Former 1PW Wrestling Announcer Joe Dombrowski Exposes Former Owner Steven Gauntley For Litany Of Lies, Deceptive Practises And Incredible Amount Of Money Owed
1PW Wrestling’s problem’s continue to get worse.
Joe Dombrowski, who has commentated for several major professional wrestling companies such as IMPACT, Ring Of Honor, RevPro and has previously announced for 1PW Wrestling took to social media earlier today to expose Steven Gauntley for deceptive business practises, lies, fraudulent activities and more.
For the sake of readability, all of Joe’s posts have been combined into the one quote block below.
If anybody isn’t aware, this post by Steven Gauntley a few wks back on the 1PW acct was & is blatantly false. I speak for myself & several others. I hate putting my business out there but feel I have no choice. Here’s a thread of what I learned this week about Steven Gauntley…
Steven Gauntley had a secret bank account he used to embezzle 1PW income without his business partners knowing. From the time it was meant to be closed (April) onward, over 5,000 GBP were transferred from there directly to his personal bank account. 1PW never saw it come in.
Here’s an example of Steven Gauntley’s dishonesty & deception of company funds June 27 – Payment for PPV buys 28 – Transfers money to personal acct 29 – Lies to mgmt asking why $ hasn’t hit company acct THIS is part of the $ that should’ve gone to paying so many who are owed.
After falling behind on pay with the Lincoln venue (due to either deception or incompetence – take your pick), SG needed to raise money quick or else the venue wouldn’t let him run June 10. So he decided to sell 10% of his company to raise capital. Not that bad in theory, BUT….
Steven Gauntley misrepresented the company’s value, by claiming things he or the company didn’t even own (such as camera equipment, the ring, all of which are rented) as assets. In other words, fraud. This arrangement didn’t last. But he had another plan to raise funds.
Steven Gauntley manipulated & gaslighted one of his wrestlers, going so far as to borrow a large sum from that wrestler’s FAMILY. To date, only a small % has been paid back. Was also told SG owes 10,000 GBP in start-up costs to someone not in wrestling he was formerly close with.
With all of the dishonestly and poor business practices, this was when the rest of management decided they couldn’t be involved in such practices. The rest of the office were in the dark until the share sale revealed all of it. Only 1 person is at fault here.
Steven Gauntley kept booking & announcing talent for Oct & Dec in spite of multiple talents still needing paid for June & some even earlier. He claimed to me NONE required deposits for Oct, but turns out he was offering several. When I confronted him on this, the story changed.
Steven Gauntley continued to offer cheap vapid excuses to stall for time. Day after day, everything from “figuring out PayPal” to “vacation to Bulgaria”. Finally he told me he was leaving 1PW. Not because of fraud, embezzlement or debt… but because he fell down the stairs.
Ultimately, once Steven Gauntley realized how close to all of this information I was, he did what he knows to do… he ran. I was able to join a growing list of “friend” and “associates” who can now see this view anytime they want… (Blocked by 1PW on X)
You may ask yourself “Why did you even go back? He’s done this before.” It’s a fair question. I knew the risk. I want ZERO sympathy. I got paid up front my first 4-5 gigs then I got comfortable. That’s on me. I assumed the Gauntley I knew in ’06 was a naive ignorant kid that gotin over his head and didn’t know how to survive. Now I know that this is just his nature. This all felt deliberate, measured, and pre-meditated. The company was making money. There was no reason for this. But the way of a snake is to be a snake.
I don’t regret going back. I got to see friends I hadn’t in 10+ years. I got to go back to the Dome, something I thought I’d NEVER do. I took care of myself enough to make sure I got what I was owed previously, and still treated well. I have closure. Just wish it ended better.
I’m putting this all here in hopes of helping 1. Any talent or staff owed money before he vanishes (which WILL happen), 2. Any fans owed merch/ticket $ (contact whoever you can & get refunds!), 3. I want this on record in case it happens again. Most deserve 2nd chances. Not 3rd.
Please help spread the word to any fans or staff or talent you may know that aren’t aware. There is literally no one running this company according to the UK government. If anyone is still owed money & needs contact info to attempt to get it from the source, please contact me.
Joe Dombrowski
It seems that 1PW and Steven Gauntley are once again under the microscope for all the wrong reasons, as their competency is once again called into question. Hopefully all talent involved in this borderline scam will land on their feet.
Matt Cardona has also gotten involved in the 1PW drama, exposing the company and Gauntley for not paying him.
This @1ProWrestling show isn’t happening and the promoter, Steven Gauntley, didn’t have the balls to tell me himself or respond to my messages. I should have learned my lesson after I had to tweet to get paid my deposit for the last show. Lol. Sorry to the UK fans who were planning on seeing me.@stephdelander & I are now available that entire weekend. If you want to book us, e-mail [email protected] If not, that’s fine too. I’ll enjoy a well deserved weekend off.
The company have previously responded to claims that they had not paid up with talent, claiming that they had fully paid up all talent.
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