Earlier this year there was some controversy on Facebook in regards to Joshua Baroni, who was involved with the creative aspects of the Maverick Pro that lead to his removal from the promotion. Baroni was caught with a fake Facebook account pretending to be a woman and using the account to “catfish’ others involved with the Southern California wrestling community. He reportedly pretended to be a female friend of his and would try to scam people by saying how depressed Baroni was and would ask them to send money or even buy him pizzas to cheer him up. Reportedly some conversations were more sexual in nature as well.
When it was discovered that Baroni was behind the fake account there was a lot of outrage directed at Maverick Pro and SCWA, the two promotions Baroni was involved in. Both promotions quickly made a post saying he was no longer involved, but then at the next Maverick Pro show after the incident occurred Baroni was there and sitting on the stage area at the venue and not with the fans. He was also regularly posting updates to the promotion’s lineup on various Facebook groups. This lead to some questioning his involvement with the promotion still and some fans saying they wouldn’t attend shows if he is still involved.
Maverick Pro released the following statement this evening:
We would like to address recent rumors and accusations in regards to a former associate of Maverick Pro Wrestling, Joshua Baroni. First and foremost, we would like to make it clear that Mr. Baroni at no time in the history of the company collected a paycheck from Maverick Pro nor was he on our payroll. That being said, Joshua did share his input in regards to creative and booking decisions as he has long been a passionate fan of professional wrestling and is an acquaintance of some members of our front office. Certain issues facing Mr. Baroni came to light that, while previously unknown to us and completely unrelated to his relationship with us, we did not want them impacting the hard work we put into Maverick Pro each and every day. As such, Joshua was asked not to post on behalf of Maverick Pro nor does he play any role in our creative or booking decisions. What he does of his own accord as a wrestling fan is far beyond our control.
We have long resisted the urge to comment on this situation out of respect for Mr. Baroni, his family, and the challenges he is facing. At the end of the day, despite his mistakes, we wanted to respect his privacy as we hope he learns from this situation and did not want to further embarrass him. We finally chose to address these rumors in a public setting as we feel it is unfair for our hardworking talent, who are merely trying to entertain our fans, to pay for the mistakes of others. We apologize to those who we have been hurt by his actions. We hope this statement serves to put the issue to rest once and for all and we, along with the rest of the Socal wrestling community, can move forward and provide wrestling fans with the best possible product.
It’s time for the show to go on.
I recently contacted Baroni directly and he also stated that he is “no longer helping [Maverick Pro].”
Maverick Pro’s next show will be December 23rd at American Legion Post #206 in Los Angeles. The show will feature Kevin Kross challenging Suede Thompson for the Maverick Pro championship. Shotzi Blackheart and Katarina Leigh have also been announced.
Stay tuned to SoCalUncensored.com for updates.
