By Geno McGahee
I’m really loving the DARK SIDE OF THE RING documentary series. I just checked out the latest COCAINE & COWBOY BOOTS: THE HERB ABRAMS STORY and it was a tremendous look into the UWF and the promoter behind it.
In the 1990s, pro wrestling had two big promotions. There was the WWF and WCW but there was another promotion on the verge of launch. The UWF, headed up by the eccentric Herb Abrams, brought in glitz, money and some of the most notable names in the business at the time. Wrestlers including Steve “Dr. Death” Williams, B. Brian Blair, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Mick Foley and Sid Vicious were just some of talent he acquired and he landed a cable deal to get the ball rolling.
Breaking into the business proved difficult and the money that Abrams claimed to have behind the UWF was overstated. He also had a love for cocaine and prostitutes and it took over his life. Abrams had big dreams to take down the WWF and be the biggest promotion in the world of wrestling, but his two big PPV attempts were epic failures and he was unable to get the momentum or cash flow to be a player in pro wrestling.
Pro wrestling attracts very unique people and Abrams was just that. He was energetic, strange and had big dreams and had the courage to follow them. The UWF was a promotion that could have made it, but it was too much like Abrams. It was unique chaos without much structure or consistent planning, but after watching this documentary, I wonder what it would have been had Abrams not had the issues he had.
DARK SIDE OF THE RING: COCAINE & COWBOY BOOTS: THE HERB ABRAMS STORY was great and shined the light on one of the most interesting characters ever to try his hand at the difficult world of pro wrestling promotion. I highly recommend it!
