In the late '80s, a die-hard wrestling fan left his career as a salesman to follow his dream of becoming a wrestling promoter.

Armed with his sales savvy, Herb Abrams convinced a U.S. national TV network to give him a time slot and the Universal Wrestling Federation was born.

You can watch Dark Side of the Ring: The Herb Abrams story tonight on Crave at 10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT.

A success in the early stages, the UWF attracted some top names in the wrestling business.

With an aim to dethrone Vince McMahon as the top wrestling promoter in America, Abrams struggled to bring in revenue. With a TV contract set to expire, a last-ditch pay per view effort bombed.

Cheques began to bounce.

"The money wasn’t legit," Mick Foley told Viceland’s documentary staff.

Foley, one of UWF’s wrestlers at the time, enjoyed the creative freedom the promotion provided.

But with Abrams’ loose booking came a wild lifestyle. Consistently in hotels with cocaine and escorts, Abrams began to ignore the duties of his promotion.

"He had squandered millions of dollars," wrestler B. Brian Blair told the crew.

A last-ditch effort to revive the promotion occurred in 1993 in Las Vegas. Abrams signed several top names to an event to be held at the MGM Grand Arena. But much like the pay per view fiasco a few years prior, the event was a flop.

Las Vegas was also the worst location for Abrams, who was high on cocaine at the time of hosting the show.

In 1996, Abrams died at the age of 41 of a heart attack and all sorts of stories surrounding the way he died began to pop up.

"I heard that he was covered in Vaseline and cocaine, "John Arezzi, a wrestling industry veteran, told Viceland. "it was crazy,"

With his early success, could the UWF been successful had Abrams stayed clean?

How much of his money did he lose?