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Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter
Regarding last week’s Dark Side of the Ring and Herb Abrams, we got a nice anecdote from reader Jeff Cohen on that subject.
“I watched the DARK SIDE episode on Herb Abrams tonight. They seemed to portray him as a freewheeling cokehead but never mentioned that - as far as I know - he was married. I met his wife, a quiet Asian woman. She, Herb, and I rode in the limo back from the Babylon, NY house show that the UWF ran. At that event, she sold/ripped tickets while I sold t-shirts. The promotion was so disorganized that I found out I was selling shirts WHEN I GOT TO THE VENUE and helped carry the boxes into the lobby of the high school (assisted by David Sammartino). Simply put, they had assigned or hired NOBODY to do it. I borrowed a marker and used the back of some event fliers to put up signs saying "T-SHIRTS $12." At intermission, Herb's wife counted cash, then looked over and asked, "Who gave you $12 as the price?" I said "Nobody." She replied, "Oh, they're usually $13." I remember Herb frantically coming over and asking her for as much cash as she could give him - then asked me how much I'd sold. I handed him over $600. Whoever rented the gym was demanding cash, not a check. His rep had started to grow by then. The day before (Friday) there was supposed to be a house show in Jamaica, Queens at a converted movie house that now booked occasional gospel revival shows. I had scouted Queens locations for him (John Arezzi scouted Long Island) and showed up that night in a suit, nervous if this was my `big break’ into wrestling. The building was FREEZING as I arrived and met Arezzi. The ring was being assembled and the workmen were in winter coats (it was January). Arezzi and his WIFE arrived in a limo. He was not in a good mood b/c the concession stand was not set up and the heat was off. The event manager explained `I told you, Herb, I need cash not a check.’ Herb replied, `I gave you a check for $1,000!’ The manager said , `If you give me cash, I will turn on the heat.’ Furious, Herb said, `The show's off!’ He yelled at the ring workers, `Break it down, show's off!’ He went to the box (his wife was in the box office selling tickets) and told her to refund money. He went outside as the first limo pulled up and Ivan Koloff jumped out. Herb yelled, `Send the limo back to Manhattan! The show if off!’ Arezzi rolled his eyes and said, `See you tomorrow’ (at his wrestling convention at the LaGuardia Marriott). When I got there, Herb's wife was at the table selling pictures of wrestlers who were in the signing room. She recognized me and asked me to sell photos while she used the bathroom. She didn't come back lol. I wound up selling photos until the event ended. At that point, Herb asked me to attend the show in Babylon and stuck me in a limo with Steve Ray, B. Brian Blair and his wife, and Paul Orndorff. I was pretty intimidated but Steve had a bunch of questions about New York for me. I was also there at the end of the night when Herb was doing payoffs (by check). Herb told a funny story about how his wife wrote the check to Andre for the one UWF TV taping that he attended. She didn't know his real name and made it out to Andre the Giant, so his business manager had to handle cashing it at the bank.
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