UWF: Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation - Intro & Overview

"The Ultimate in Sports Entertainment!"

It's likely more people heard of Herb Abrams UWF wrestling promotion through its Dark Side of the Ring episode than during its initial short lived run on television. Beyond the "Cocaine & Cowboy Boots" eccentricities covered in those explosive forty-five minutes, I found myself curious about the wrestling show of Herb Abrams itself. Was it as terrible as it looked on DSOTR? Was there anything redeeming about it? Most importantly, could it entertain?

A small legion of fans has grown throughout the years as the UWF has circulated and gained notoriety, not despite of the promotions shortcomings but largely because of them. In the era of highly polished "sports entertainment," an often clumsy and haphazard wrestling show has proven an escape for many. Follow along as this blog takes a closer look at the Herb Abrams UWF experience. 

Originally a separate promotion run by Bill Watts, he sold his business to Jim Crockett Promotions in 1987 without trademarking the name, allowing Herb Abrams to seize "UWF" for himself in 1990. To avoid confusion in discussion, the two promotions are commonly distinguished by fans as either UWF - Bill Watts, or UWF - Herb Abrams. Since this blog is exclusively about the Abrams UWF, I will simply address it as UWF here on out.

It's worth noting more than a few wrestlers actually competed in both versions of the UWF, including "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Paul Orndorff, B. Brian Blair, Mick Foley, Rick Rude, Cowboy Bob Orton, Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, Lanny Poffo, Johnny Ace, Iceman King Parsons, Ken Patera, Mike Sharpe, Missy Hyatt, Luna Vachon, and even Little Tokyo. These names illustrate Abrams could acquire a good deal of recognizable star power, if even for short stints at different times.

Other than being a fan (or mark, depending on your point of view), Abrams had no experience with the wrestling business. Initially he hoped to work with Vince McMahon of the WWE, but after being snubbed on his offer, his focus became knocking McMahon off the top. This would ultimately lead to the rapid rise and fall of the UWF, as Abrams lacked McMahon's money and the production value that went with it, as well as the time and experience it would take to grow the company naturally. Instead of building stars and trying to gain traction with a fanbase, Abrams opted to compete with the all time biggest in the business right out of the gate. He seemed to believe that having big name wrestlers on the card would be enough to get over with the fans, giving little attention to how matches were booked.

As TV time had become the most essential element to a wrestling company's survival by 1990, Abrams scored a key deal with the SportsChannel Network for $1 million to produce a weekly show. That show became UWF Fury Hour. As was common practice at the time, UWF would film, or "tape," a block of matches to be later edited into episode form. The first UWF taping created the first three episodes of Fury Hour.

The UWF had its first official promo on August 26, 1990 in a New York City press conference. It featured Herb Abrams seated between B. Brian Blair and Dan Spivey in front of UWF and SportsChannel banners. Also prominently featured on camera is UWF merchandise, including the shirts worn by the two wrestlers.

Blair calls out Spivey for lacking any real success without Sid Vicious, his former tag partner in The Skyscrapers, which gets a good reaction from the press. Spivey mumbles a response, his exact words seeming to be, "At least I've been working. I haven't been sitting behind a desk, you know, working behind a gym or something." This confusing statement garners almost no response from anyone, though it matters little because Spivey then pours a pitcher of water over Blair's head before slamming him on the table and throwing him through a SportsChannel banner. The first sign of violence sees the stubby Abrams haul ass off camera. Spivey ends the press conference by flipping the table and walking out. This segment was featured during the first episode of Fury Hour.

Premiering on the long forgotten SportsChannel America channel as part of its Feet, Fists, & Fury lineup on Monday nights, UWF Fury Hour became the company's flagship show. While fans have become familiar with WWE's Monday Night Raw, UWF interestingly beat WWE to Monday night wrestling by three years.

In perhaps a sign of impending disaster, the first scheduled taping event for UWF Fury Hour on September 13th was cancelled, with the event taking place over a week later with a different card in a different location. Apparently some kind of dispute between Abrams and Celebrity Theatre management resulted in the cancellation, though wrestlers and TV crew were already there expecting to work, and get paid. Abrams reportedly lost $100,000 from the fallout, as reported at the time by Ross Blair of "The Mat Review," who was in attendance. Though Abrams later claimed there were a thousand wrestling fans trying to get in, Blair estimated seeing only around thirty or so at the most.

Poster for canceled event.

The debut of Fury Hour would instead be taped at the Reseda Country Club in Reseda, California. Usually a rock music venue, UWF premiered September 24th to a sold-out audience of around 450 people. The delay seemed to pay off in this respect as it gave Abrams more time to advertise via newspaper and radio.

Reseda Country Club, birthplace of Herb Abrams UWF

As mentioned above, UWF hit the ground running with its own line of merchandise by the time of their first show. T-shirts were available by mail order for $9.95, as well as hats for $12.95. The commercial for the merchandise would be shown on a regular basis during Fury Hour, and plenty of the shirts and hats are visible in the crowd during the first show. Whether these were actually purchased or given out to help promote the fledgling company is unknown at this time.

Though the task proved difficult, the UWF pushed forward into pro wrestling history. Next post, Fury Hour Episode One!

Sources & Further Reading:

-"Tortured Ambition: The Story of Herb Abrams and the UWF," by Jonathan Plombon

-Dark Side of the Ring Season 2, Episode 8: "Cocaine & Cowboy Boots"

-Mat Review Newsletter Issue 6 by Ross Blair

-https://prowrestlingpost.com/herb-abrams-circus-minimus-the-ill-fated-odyssey-of-the-uwf/

-https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2021/10/11/tortured-ambition-describes-my-work-on-herb-abrams-book-too/?fbclid=IwAR3wT0_DWSi-750mtGRh1JwMFaVtd7RNDfWd4qvbPWeHgEGdG0OsbZ__G1g

-https://wrestleinn.com/2021/10/01/a-drink-at-the-inn-with-jonathan-plombon/?fbclid=IwAR3F92dLClaWV_o-ScToi3-8T5YMbDNy83jyGN3Uk1A0Xo8lHfgzeDurVAE

-http://wrestlecrap.com/inductions/uwf-beach-brawl/

-http://wrestlecrap.com/inductions/uwf-blackjack-brawl/

-https://cuddysworld.blogspot.com/2018/01/in-defense-of-herb-abrams.html

-https://ripperswrestlingreview.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/retro-review-uwf-blackjack-brawl/

-https://ripperswrestlingreview.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/rippers-bad-gimmick-of-the-month-4/

-https://prowrestlingpost.com/the-uwf-beach-brawl-on-this-day/

-https://411mania.com/wrestling/the-furious-flashbacks-uwf-blackjack-brawl/

-https://www.pwinsider.com/article/140265/wild-thing-stevie-ray-talks-herb-abrams-and-the-uwf.html

-https://wrestlingmemorabilia.blogspot.com/2021/08/from-musty-yellowed-pages-uwf-beach.html

-https://wrestlingfigs.com/wrestlingnews/former-announcer-craig-degeorge-talks-herb-abrams-the-uwf-hulk-hogan-working-with-bruno-and-mean-gene-more/

-https://prowrestling.net/site/2021/02/18/sonny-beach-on-working-for-herb-abrams-in-the-uwf-the-dark-side-of-the-ring-episode-on-abrams-breaking-into-the-wwf/

-http://www.profightdb.com/cards/uwf-herb-abrams-cards-pg1-no-341.html

-https://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=300

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Universal_Wrestling_Federation_(Herb_Abrams)_personnel