The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level rival of the World Wrestling Federation. However, Watts' business strategy quickly swung from "overnight" success to catastrophic failure, resulting in the 1987 sale of the UWF to another rival: Jim Crockett Promotions. The promotion began as an NWA territory, NWA Tri-State, founded by Leroy McGuirk in the 1950s. Tri-State/Mid-South/UWF promoted in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi until 1987.
Brian Leslie Blair 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 team The Killer Bees in the 1980s.
Paul Worden Taylor III is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. From 2003 until 2011, he worked as a road agent, trainer, interviewer and the director of talent relations in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Since 2012, Taylor has worked as a trainer in WWE's developmental territory, NXT.
Robin Denise Smith, better known by her ring name Rockin' Robin, is an American retired professional wrestler. The daughter of Grizzly Smith, she is a second-generation wrestler; her brother Sam Houston and half-brother Jake "The Snake" Roberts also wrestled. Smith is best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1987 to 1990, where she held the WWF Women's Championship.
Steven Franklin Williams, best known under the ring name "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, was an American collegiate and professional wrestler and collegiate football player. He was known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and is a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion, having won both the Herb Abrams and Bill Watts versions of the UWF World Heavyweight Championship and the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
The UWF Heavyweight Championship was the premier title in the Universal Wrestling Federation owned by Bill Watts. When Mid-South Wrestling Association changed its name to the UWF, the Mid-South North American Championship was retired and a tournament was held to crown a new UWF Heavyweight Champion. When Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the UWF, the title was defended in Crockett for a while and was then retired.
James Brunzell is an American retired professional wrestler. Best known for his successful tag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions during his 21-year career.
John Tolos, nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was a Canadian professional wrestler, and professional wrestling manager.
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.
Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Herb Abrams that operated from 1990 to 1996. The company aired nationally on SportsChannel America, and later on Prime Ticket and ESPN2.
Herbert Charles Abrams, 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.
Candace Maria Rummel was an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Candi Devine. She won singles championships in several promotions, most notably in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where she held the AWA Women's Championship four times.
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.
William Pierce is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Chris Michaels. He is best known for his appearances with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based professional wrestling promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 to 1993. He is to not be confused with Nebraska and Iowa wrestler, Chris Michaels who worked for the USWA with tag team partner Todd Morton.
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 part of the network's Feet, Fists and Fury programming block that also included kickboxing and boxing.
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 live on SportsChannel America. The event was a successor to UWF's only pay-per-view event, Beach Brawl.
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.
Richard "Rick" Allen, also known by the ring name Sunny Beach, is an American retired professional wrestler and promoter. He is perhaps best known for his tenure in the Universal Wrestling Federation where he was one-half of Wet N' Wild with Steve Ray.
Gordon Peter Scozzari was an American professional wrestling promoter, commentator, ring announcer, television producer, restaurateur, and legal librarian. He was best known as founder of the short-lived American Wrestling Federation. It was one of several start-up promotions that appeared across the U.S. in the early 1990s, many with the intention of becoming a third national promotion along with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation. Though the AWF was never promoted as such, it was among the first of these companies to utilize a competitive talent roster. The initial AWF television tapings boasted some of the top NWA and WWF stars of the 1980s wrestling boom, as well as top-level talent from All-Japan Pro Wrestling, the World Wrestling Council, and the U.S. independent circuit. Serious production problems arose during the tapings, however, ultimately forcing Scozzari to close the promotion in 1992. He continued working in pro wrestling as a booker-promoter in the Northeastern United States, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom before leaving the industry in 2000.
