Wednesday, July 1, 2020

UWF Fury Hour Rebook-Episode 1

I was made aware of the late Herb Abrams and his ill-fated Universal Wrestling Federation first through Mick Foley's autobiography Have a Nice Day then later through Wrestling With Wrgret's special episode on defunct promotions. I then saw the episode of Dark Side of the Ring devoted to it and I was struck by a few things.

 Herb, bless his heart, wanted to be the Vince McMahon of the West Coast but he had neither the talent nor the ability. He got lucky at first and the UWF hit the ground with both a TV show and a pretty decent roster. 

Yet the promotion ended in record low admission and shows no one watched. If I had Abrams' ear at the time, how would I have booked the show? Having seen a bunch of episodes, all this month we'll be taking a look at Fury Hour
9-24-1990
Reseda Country Club
Announcers: Herb Abrams and Bruno Sammartino

Three Way match
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams VS David Sammartino VS Cactus Jack
Winner: Williams in 16:00. Good showcase, with Cactus Jack as the heel, David as the face, and Dr. Death playing the tweener. David tries his best, but after he and Dr. Death double clothesline Cactus Jack, Dr. Death turns on the second generation superstar and hits him with a backdrop, pinning the two men. 

Singles match
Billy Jack Haynes VS "Spitball" Patterson 
Winner: Hayes in 5.00. Straight jobber squash match with Billy Jack beating Patterson with a bearhug. Patterson would be more baseball themed. For this match he'd be decked out in white with blue highlights (home colors of the LA Dodgers)

Singles match
Col. DeBeers VS Paul Orndorff 
Winner: Mr. Wonderful with a piledriver in 15.00

Universal Wrestling Federation North American Heavyweight title match Tournament Quarterfinals
B. Brain Blair VS Dan Spivey 
Winner: Spivey in 10.00. Blair starts out strong, but Spivey gets a second wind and nails him with a Spivey Spike (DDT) for the win. 

For the rest of the show we have Captain's Corner with Lou Albano and Herb Abrams with the unveiling of the UWF North American title. I was thinking gold, with the letters UWF over North America (Canada down through Mexico, with the Canadian and Mexican flags on the outer portions and the American flag stretched across the bottom). UWF had a World title, but for right now I feel that the focus should be more regional than worldwide. 

The UWF had 12 titles total and most of them were awarded without fanfare or reason. So, now we'll focus on the main event, then the midcard and tag teams. 

The brackets for the UWF North American championship: 

B. Brain Blair
Dan Spivey 

Steve Williams 
Billy Jack Haynes 

Paul Orndorff 
Jay Strongbow, Jr. 

Ken Patera 
Ivan Koloff 

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