On-Topic RIP

[Chili]

5 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

He was crap but he had an incredibly memorable look and name. First saw him on the ITV stuff in the early 90s and I assumed he was a pretty big star because he looked great and they sold him well. 

Are his WWF tryouts in 1993 around anywhere? Seems mad that they didn't bring him in at a time when they were hiring any old shite from WCW. How bad must he have been in their environment? 

Thought he was alright as a member of the Flock as a low card JTTS but god knows how he survived into the 2000s. Recall the story Chili mentioned that was from the Observer, via SCG, that he kicked off about being Private Stash in the MIA because it wasn't a high enough rank. The absolute no-mark. That they changed it instead of sacking him off is insane.

Sorry to see him pass. He was unforgettable, that's for sure.

I think he got a lot of chances because I think people liked him. DDP was a pal of his so he probably kept getting some shots. Why he didn't get a shot in WWF 1993, his physique was a big red flag and I doubt he was passing any piss tests. It's probably why they didn't take on Renegade in 1993/4 either when he had tryouts. I doubt the talent really mattered. It was them being roidy boys.

Here was the vignettes they aired for him. A hair metal character coming in at the emergence of grunge. Classic wrestling. Also another amusing Hammer tidbit was he obviously couldn't play the guitar, then they brought in JT Southern to feud with him, on the basis that Southern, the heel, called Hammer a phony. Southern who of course COULD play guitar and did so on his entrance.

Edited April 20 by Chili

[Snitsky's back acne]

Yeah, Van Hammer was one of the first WCW wrestlers I saw when WCW starting showing on UK TV in the middle of the night in the early 90's.

Between Get Stuffed and American Gladiators was WCW Pro and I remeber them playing the video of "Heavy Metal" Van Hammer's music video for a few weeks before he showed up and squashed Doug Somers or whoever it was. 10 year old me, just getting acquainted with pro wrestling, thought he was a superstar.

RIP Major Stash. 
 

[gmoney]

3 minutes ago, Chili said:

Why he didn't get a shot in WWF 1993, his physique was a big red flag and I doubt he was passing any piss tests. It's probably why they didn't take on Renegade in 1993/4 either when he had tryouts. I doubt the talent really mattered. It was them being roidy boys.

Probably valid, but they did pick up Bryan Clark around this time too, so they weren't that bothered. 

[Chili]

Just now, gmoney said:

Probably valid, but they did pick up Bryan Clark around this time too, so they weren't that bothered. 

Clark probably did good for himself on his SMW run just before it, and as awful as he was, he did get somewhat better from his barely trained WCW Nightstalker run in 1990, probably was a bit more humble in the ego department too I assume. 

[davertfnewman]

Hammer and "Conan" Chris Walker once had a go as a tag team doing a biker gimmick.

Let's be honest, you'd prefer to have had them in retrospect than DOA.

[The Reverend]

On 4/19/2026 at 7:41 PM, Retro Red said:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/937873266547978/user/100044303142288/ Van Hammer’s death reported by Mark Mero - still no age at 66. He was one of my early favourites as a young kid watching Worldwide in the 90s, thought his slingshot suplex was the coolest thing ever. Then my folks got us Sky, WWE took over my tv time and that was that. He’ll always have a place though as one of my first favourites along with Steamboat, Sting, 2 Cold Scorpio, Johnny B Badd and more.

IIRC WCW used Van Hammer quite a bit as a spokesman for their WCW tours in the UK. Not sure if he was a proficient speaker or they thought that his character would appeal to us Brits (like most things in wrestling he was just a little bit too late, with Glam Metal having bitten the dust to Grunge by 91/92)

[davertfnewman]

I'm pretty sure I first saw Hammer on a commercial for Knights and Warriors. Gladiators it wasn't.

[AshC]

I watched the amazing April 10th 2000 'company reset' episode of Nitro the other day. 

For the big meeting at the start, most of the talents are already in the ring, then a handful of the pushed guys come out... Scott Steiner, Booker T, Jeff Jarrett... and Van Hammer right amongst them!

Fella played a blinder there, he looked the part too, a big fella. 

A good wrestler name as well. 'Heavy Metal' Van Hammer, proper US wrestling razzamatazz. 

Vague memory of him briefly being a hippy character between Raven's Flock and this, it's a wonder they didn't go back to the hair rocker, although it was a different time. 

[Chico Torres]

When WCW started emerging from the depths of 3am on a Wednesday night into a Saturday afternoon slot later in 1991, Van Hammer was one of the more prominent names at the time so will always have a soft spot for him even though he was a bit shit really. Not that they did him many favours, I’ve talked before how I was amused by the Van Hammer vs JT Southern feud, the later also having a rock star gimmick except he was the heel….but he had better hair and also could play the guitar live and pointed out that our Van didn’t and couldn’t play his guitar. Not a great look for a babyface.

In the early/mid 90s there was a magazine called Satellite Times which had a wrestling column by “The Wolf” who I’m pretty sure was Fin Martin and I recall being intrigued by a report of a WCW Christmas party where our own Lord Regal beat up poor Hammer in front of everyone.

A final memory I have of him in this glowing remembrance is that he did pretty well in the Jesse the Body “Strongest Arm” arm wrestling contest one year which went on for what seemed like months on Worldwide in 92 and then again in 93.

Anyway RIP Van Hammer, he wasn’t great but he was part of the greatest WCW era ever so I will always love him.

[davertfnewman]

Van Hammer won the first Strongest Arm tournament, leading to a feud with Vinnie Vegas that was aborted when Nash left. Then he lost in the first round of the second tournament.

JT Southern is a guy worth investigating as someone who did a bunch of stuff, not exactly well.

[Roy]

18 hours ago, Chico Torres said:

In the early/mid 90s there was a magazine called Satellite Times which had a wrestling column by “The Wolf” who I’m pretty sure was Fin Martin and I recall being intrigued by a report of a WCW Christmas party where our own Lord Regal beat up poor Hammer in front of everyone.

Yes, this was Dallas Page's Christmas party. Van Hammer ended up getting a scar on his lip (I think) from Regal headbutting him, after the former went off on some of the foreign wrestlers.

[wandshogun09]

Not a wrestler but I think Ted Turner passing belongs in this thread as much as anyone. 87 years old. 

RIP Billionaire Ted. 

[WyattSheepMask]

Ted Turner, aged 87

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1k2jnx8gmlo
 

He did something with wrestling in the late 80s & 90s

[SuperBacon]

Thank you Ted for Monday (Friday) Nitro.

[tiger_rick]

A pity Ted didn't outlive Vince so he could piss on his grave. I know fuck all about him really, and won't pretend I did but what he did for pro-wrestling will always be something I'm grateful for. A bunch of my favourite times to be a fan stem from the fact he didn't like Vince and he loved the pro-wrestling on his channels. Cheers Ted.

RIP.