Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was an American

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

owned by

Herb Abrams Herbert Charles Abrams (July 9, 1955 – July 23, 1996), also known by the nickname Mr. Electricity, was an American professional wrestling promoter from Queens, New York, who founded the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1990. Early life ...

from 1990 to 1996. The company aired nationally on

SportsChannel America SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC. Operating from March 1, ...

, and later on

Prime Ticket Prime Ticket may refer to: * Bally Sports West, a regional sports network that was known as Prime Ticket from 1985 to 1995 * Bally Sports SoCal Bally Sports SoCal is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint v ...

and

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

History

founded the UWF in 1990 to try to challenge

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

on a national level. He announced the promotion's formation at John Arezzi's ''Wrestling Fans Fantasy Weekend'' convention in August 1990. Despite having no experience in the wrestling business, Abrams was given a budget of $1 million by

to develop a weekly television series, which would become ''

UWF Fury Hour ''UWF Fury Hour'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on SportsChannel America from October 1, 1990, to September 23, 1991. The show was ...

''. The first ''Fury Hour'' tapings were held at

Reseda Country Club Reseda Country Club was a nightclub and multi-purpose venue located on Sherman Way in Reseda, California. The building started off as a Sav-On drug store in the 1950s and later became a music venue in 1980 when Chuck Landis purchased the site. ...

in fall 1990 and featured established stars such as

Billy Jack Haynes William Albert Haynes III (born July 10, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Billy Jack Haynes. Professional wrestling career Early career (1982–1984) Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the ...

Bob Orton, Jr. Robert Keith Orton Jr. (born November 10, 1950), better known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is the son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Bar ...

Brian Blair Brian Leslie Blair (born January 12, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler and politician. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name B. Brian Blair as one half of the tag t ...

, Cactus Jack,

Colonel DeBeers Edward Wiskoski (born January 10, 1945) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the American Wrestling Association under the ring name Colonel DeBeers from 1985 to 1990. Early life Wiskoski was the fi ...

Dan Spivey Daniel Eugene Spivey (born October 14, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler best known under the ring names "Dangerous" Dan Spivey, Dangerous Dan The Left Hand Man, Danny Spivey, Mr. America, and Waylon Mercy, and initially worked ...

David Sammartino David Lugogo Sammartino (born September 29, 1960) is an American personal trainer and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is the son of former WWWF/WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Sammartino. Professional wrestling career Early caree ...

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler and podcaster. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Cha ...

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was b ...

Ken Patera Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...

, and Steve Williams.Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.184) The top homegrown talent included "Wild Thing" Steve Ray and "Cutie Pie"

Louie Spicolli Louis Mucciolo Jr. (February 10, 1971 – February 15, 1998) was an American professional wrestler. He performed in Mexico under the ring name Madonna's Boyfriend, for the World Wrestling Federation as Rad Radford, and in Extreme Championship Wre ...

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywei ...

and

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

were hired as commentators. The promotion held a taping in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the New York Penta in January 1991 that became plagued with legal issues. The World Wrestling Federation sent

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

orders to the UWF after Honky Tonk Man and

Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American professional wrestler who performed for many promotions, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling ...

appeared on-camera. Both had recently walked out of the WWF but were still under contract to the company. Honky Tonk Man would later explain that the check he received from Abrams for this taping bounced, and he filed a formal complaint with the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

to get reimbursed. Abrams hired Howard Brody, the owner of

Ladies Major League Wrestling Ladies Major League Wrestling (LMLW) was a women's professional wrestling company that operated from 1989–1992. Their cards were promoted under the Wild Women of Wrestling (WWOW) name. History Howard Brody incorporated the Ladies Major Le ...

, to help him expand UWF into the Florida market in mid-1991. Following several

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

s and a television taping at

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

, Brody was entrusted with finding a venue for the promotion's first

pay per view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

event in June 1991. Brody suggested the

Odeum Expo Center The Odeum Expo Center was a convention center located in Villa Park, Illinois. It featured of exhibit space at the North Hall and of exhibit space at the South Hall. Both halls had pitched roofs as high as . The South Hall was also used as ...

in Chicago. Abrams insisted on holding

Beach Brawl Beach Brawl was the only live professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). The event took place on June 9, 1991 at the Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, Florida. Eight professional wr ...

Manatee Civic Center Bradenton Area Convention Center, formerly Manatee Civic Center, is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena and convention center in Palmetto, Florida. It was home to the Florida Stingers of the Continental Basketball Association and Florida Scorpio ...

Palmetto, Florida Palmetto is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was listed as 13,323. It is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office called Palmetto ha ...

. The pay per view was a disaster in both attendance and pay per view buys. Following Beach Brawl, Abrams ran one final television taping at War Memorial Auditorium before running out of fresh footage for ''Fury Hour''. He struck a deal with Brody to use footage from Ladies Major League Wrestling to fulfill his content creation obligations to SportsChannel America, and the two parted ways in fall 1991. Abrams only ran three more shows after his SportsChannel America deal expired in late 1991. This included: a television taping at

Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium The Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium is a large-events venue in Spartanburg, South Carolina, located at 385 N Church St. It was built in 1951 and consists of a 3,217-seat theater with an 83'9"-by-86' stage and a 1,600-seat Exhibit Hall with 13,6 ...

in June 1992 that aired on

as ''Thunder Hour''; a television taping at All Seasons Arena as part of the

North Dakota State Fair The North Dakota State Fair is an annual state fair held each July in Minot, North Dakota, USA. The fair has carnival rides, agricultural expositions, government and commercial exhibitions, and a variety of musical and performance entertainment. ...

in July 1993, which never aired; and

Blackjack Brawl Blackjack Brawl was the first and only major live television supercard event produced by Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). The event took place on September 23, 1994 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and aired li ...

at Las Vegas'

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...

, in September 1994. The latter show aired live on SportsChannel America, yet was a disaster in both attendance and critical reception. Abrams left for New York City to care for his ailing mother in December 1994, and wrestler Al Burke was put in charge of the promotion.

aired old episodes of ''Fury Hour'' and ''Thunder Hour'' in 1995, albeit in heavily edited form. A February 1996 card called St. Valentine's Day Massacre was scheduled to be broadcast live from

Grand Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

Prime Sports Network Prime Sports (originally known as the Prime Sports Network (PSN), and also known as Prime Network or simply Prime) is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that were owned by Liberty Media, ope ...

, but was cancelled.

Zoogz Rift Zoogz Rift (born Robert Pawlikowski; July 10, 1953 – March 22, 2011) was an American musician, painter and professional wrestling personality. Born Robert Pawlikowski in Paterson, New Jersey, Rift was raised in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jerse ...

worked for the company during this time and claimed Abrams'

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

addiction drained the company of money needed to produce such events. Abrams died of a cocaine-related heart attack in July 1996 while still in New York. Al Burke claimed ownership of UWF's tape library following Abrams' death. In 2002, Burke partnered with Todd Okerlund of Classic Wrestling to repackage and license the library through

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

and ESPN Classic Canada. ''

Dark Side of the Ring ''Dark Side of the Ring'' is a Canadian documentary television series produced by Vice Studios. The series focuses on controversial subjects and events within the realm of professional wrestling. Series overview Episodes Season 1 (2019) Seas ...

'' aired an episode focused on the promotion titled "Cocaine & Cowboy Boots: The Herb Abrams Story" in May 2020. It was the third-highest rated episode in the show's history. Jonathan Plombon released a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

on Abrams and his promotion titled ''Tortured Ambition: The Story of Herb Abrams and the UWF '' in September 2021.

Programming

Fury Hour

Fury Hour ''UWF Fury Hour'' is a professional wrestling television program that was produced by Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on SportsChannel America from October 1, 1990, to September 23, 1991. The show was ...

'' was the company's weekly television show that aired Monday nights on

from 1990 to 1991. It was taped at various locations including

, New York Penta,

, and War Memorial Auditorium. It was briefly revived as ''Thunder Hour'' in 1992 on

with episodes taped at

Beach Brawl

Beach Brawl was the only pay-per-view event in the company's history and was held on June 7, 1991 at the

. The event was headlined by a match between Steve Williams and

Bam Bam Bigelow Scott Charles Bigelow (September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bam Bam Bigelow. Recognizable by his close to 400-pound frame and the distinctive flame tattoo that spanned most ...

, which was the final round match of a sixteen-man tournament for the crowning of the first UWF SportsChannel Television Champion. Williams defeated Bigelow to become the first SportsChannel Television Champion. The event was an overall failure with a low buyrate of 0.1 and a crowd of 500 in attendance at the arena.

Blackjack Brawl

The company aired a live television special called Blackjack Brawl on September 23, 1994 on

, which was UWF's last major attempt to secure a major television deal and survive in the professional wrestling industry. The event was held at the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Like its predecessor Beach Brawl, the event saw very low attendance of just 600 fans and received negative response from critics and audiences for weak quality, weakly performed matches, nonsense

booking Booking may refer to: * Making an appointment for a meeting or gathering, as part of event planning/scheduling * The intake or admission process into a prison or psychiatric facility. * ''Booking'' (manhwa), a Korean comics anthology magazine pub ...

and weak commentary. The event featured nine championship matches, with two vacant championships being decided at the event, and seven new championships being contested at the event. The event was headlined by a

UWF World Heavyweight Championship Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Marina del Rey, California from 1990 to 1996. This is a list of titles that were awarded and defended in the UWF. Not all championships were active during the e ...

match between defending champion Steve Williams and

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

. This would stand as the promotion's final event.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre (cancelled)

St. Valentine's Day Massacre was a planned live television special that would have been broadcast on

on February 10, 1996. The event would have been held at

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and featured the promised rematch from

between Steve Williams and

in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

for the

Championships

Herb Abrams holding the UWF SportsChannel Television Championship at New York Penta in May 1991

* UWF Americas Championship (1994) * UWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1993) * UWF Israeli Championship (1991) * UWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1994) * UWF MGM Grand Championship (1994) * UWF Midget World Championship (1994) * UWF North American Championship (1991) *

UWF Southern States Championship Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Marina del Rey, California from 1990 to 1996. This is a list of titles that were awarded and defended in the UWF. Not all championships were active during the e ...

(1992, 1994) *

UWF SportsChannel Television Championship Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Marina del Rey, California from 1990 to 1996. This is a list of titles that were awarded and defended in the UWF. Not all championships were active during the e ...

(1991-1992, 1994) * UWF Women's World Championship (1991, 1994) *

(1994) * UWF World Tag Team Championship (1994)

Home video

In 1992, the UWF issued six VHS releases in the United States through Best Film & Video Corporation: ''Beach Brawl'', ''Tag Team Tandems'', ''The Best of Paul Orndorff'', ''The Lumberjack Match'', ''The Steel Cage Match'', and ''Wrestling's Greatest Champions''. In 1993, the UWF released six volumes of

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

videos in Germany through Summit International Pictures under the "Wrestling Super Champs" banner. They were all compilations of ''

'' matches. The same six "Wrestling Super Champs" volumes were re-released in Germany through Jünger Verlag under the "Super Wrestling" banner. Recent years have seen the emergence of UWF

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

s in Australia through Payless Entertainment. Each of the seven Region 4 DVDs contains one episode of ''

''. The DVDs include ''Body Slammin'', ''Grand Slam'', ''Grudge Matches'', ''It's War'', ''Tag Team Madness'', ''The Main Event'', and ''Wrestling Wars''. In Germany, a

Region 0 DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD-Video, DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all acc ...

DVD titled "Wrestling Super 4 Champs" was released containing two episodes of ''

''. Also in Germany, the "Wrestling Super Champs" VHS compilations were re-released on DVD in six volumes as "American History of Wrestling - UWF".

Awards

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

**1990 - Worst Television Announcer (

) **1991 - Worst Promotion of the Year (UWF) **1991 - Worst Television Show (''

'') **1991 - Most Obnoxious (

) **1994 - Worst Major Wrestling Show (

)

References

External links

Herb Abrams' UWF Tribute SiteHerb Abrams' UWF
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Herb Abrams' UWF
on Pro Wrestling History {{Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams) 1990 establishments in California 1996 disestablishments in California American professional wrestling promotions Entertainment companies established in 1990 Entertainment companies disestablished in 1996 Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Independent professional wrestling promotions based in California Marina del Rey, California de:Universal Wrestling Federation#UWF (Herb Abrams)