Jumbo Baretta, the former WCW and WWF wrestler born Julio Barrera, has passed away at the age of 59.
The Cauliflower Alley Club, the organization for wrestling veterans, announced the news on social media with a tribute to a friend of nearly four decades.
“Rest in Peace, My Friend Jumbo Beretta. This one truly hurts,” the club wrote, using a different spelling of his surname. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of Jumbo, a good friend whom I was honored and privileged to know for nearly 40 years. I send my sincerest condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace old friend.”
A Tampa native, Baretta debuted in 1986 after training under Boris Malenko, the father of Dean and Joe Malenko. He became a regular on the Florida circuit, working for Championship Wrestling from Florida and the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. In 1989, he and Dennis Knight, later known as Mideon in WWF, won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. They dropped the titles a month later.
From 1989 to 1990, Baretta worked for WCW, facing Sting, Tommy Rich, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and The Road Warriors. He also competed in Japan, first for the Universal Wrestling Federation as Johnny Barrett in 1989, then for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi in 1991. In 1995, he returned to the States for a couple of WWF matches.
Baretta kept wrestling on and off for years afterward. In 2010, he won the first Malenko Cup Battle Royal in Riverview, Florida, and his final match came in 2013.
A cause of death has not been disclosed. His passing follows that of another longtime Florida independent mainstay, Ralph Mosca, who died last year at 55.
SEScoops extends its condolences to Baretta’s family, friends and the wrestling community.
