While AEW is now providing competition for WWE, back in the early '90s, it was tough for rivals to contend with the might of Vince McMahon's family and the wrestling empire they built. It wasn't until around '94 that WCW and Ted Turner felt like heavy-hitters with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage coming over.

But before that, around 1991, the main competition was Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, aka UWF. It struggled to match up to the then-WWF but still gave the McMahons a run for their money with their creativity and indie tone. However, Abrams' dream came crashing down in a tragic end, and as Dark Side of the Ring's "Cocaine & Cowboy Boots: The Herb Abrams Story" reveals, it was all kickstarted by the titan known as Andre the Giant.

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Andre The Giant

Andre's a legend, building up WWF in the '80s and becoming a global icon along the way. But his age and health issues led to his program with McMahon's company being shortened. After a stint in Japan, he returned to wrestling but not with WWF. He came to UWF, where he had a couple of segments in September '91, putting the company over. He said the best in the business came to fight in the ring here, and he promised he'd stay on to help build the company.

It's something fans took seriously as Bruno Sammartino also helped give the company a voice. Abrams promised big and he delivered, with Andre stating the company stood for "if you wanna fight, you'll get it!" It was a dream interview because Abrams just needed credibility and not necessarily a physical presence for someone past his prime. WCW had Sting, Arn Anderson and the Four Horsemen and the Steiners, but they were still budding in terms of being competitive, so this gave UWF a significant advantage in the race for silver.

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But it was all undone just a few months later. In November, McMahon offered Andre big money to return to WWF. Despite his program with former manager Captain Lou Albano, Andre left Abrams high and dry. Despite this, injury kept him from the Royal Rumble when he went back to WWF, so it's not like he was signed to make an immediate impact. McMahon just didn't like how Abrams wanted to partner with him, talking up controlling certain states, which led to WWF poaching their biggest (literally) prize. Andre's return was injury-plagued and he'd end up wrapping his career up in WCW and Japan, never fulfilling his vow or obligations to UWF.

This broke Abrams, especially as he didn't have the money WCW had through Turner. All he offered was creative freedom and a wild style, which is what drew the likes of Mick Foley/Cactus Jack, Steve Williams and Steve "Wild Thing" Ray to him in the first place. Fans lapped up these shows, which didn't have the polish of WWF but felt raw and more real. Abrams was also exuberant and highly involved, amping things up, but when UWF's SportsChannel America deal expired, coupling this with Andre's abandonment, money issues crept in.

Wrestlers went unpaid and a lot of people, including contractors, hunted Abrams for their money. His drug use, particularly cocaine, went sky high, leading to a downward spiral of depression, unprofessionalism and funds mismanagement. The TV shows flopped, and the house shows were following suit. By the time he opted to put on UWF Blackjack Brawl from Nevada's MGM Grand Arena, the writing was on the wall. He spent a lot of money, but instead of the capacity 17,000 fans, Abrams sold only approximately 300 tickets. This bomb saw UWF meet its demise two years later, but by then, Abrams had returned to New York to care for his mom. He'd die of a cocaine-related heart attack in '96 and that year, UWF folded due to lack of funds, allegedly because of Abrams' drug habit. The UWF never recovered the prestige Abrams thought it would have had with Andre at the helm. Abrams needed a face, but instead, he self-destructed and kept pushing a facade that fizzled quickly and allowed WCW to take over and rival McMahon's dynasty.

Dark Side of the Ring airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on VICE TV.

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