Mark Hildreth Mark Hildreth ( November 11 , 1967 ) is an American former professional wrestler . He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Van Hammer . Professional wrestling career . Global Wrestling Federation ( 1991 ) . After being trained by Boris Malenko and Dan Spivey , Hildreth made his debut on July 19 , 1991 as The Hammer , teaming with " Iceman " King Parsons to defeat Billy Travis and Khris Germany in a tag team match for the Global Wrestling Federation . The referee for this match was Hildreth ' s brother , Dwayne Hildreth . Two months later , he signed with World Championship Wrestling . World Championship Wrestling ( 1991 – 1993 ) . In September 1991 , Hildreth joined World Championship Wrestling as " Heavy Metal " Van Hammer , a rock star gimmick . He made his debut for the promotion at " " , where he squashed Terrance Taylor in 39 seconds . He made his WCW television debut on the October 15 episode of " Saturday Night " , defeating Paul Lee . Twelve days later , he made his pay - per - view debut at Halloween Havoc , defeating Doug Somers . After being undefeated on both television and house show s , Hammer ' s streak ended when he lost a match to Cactus Jack at " Clash of the Champions XVII " . At Starrcade , Hammer teamed with Big Josh in a losing effort to Steve Austin and Rick Rude . After briefly continuing his tag team with Big Josh , Hammer returned to singles competition and faced Steve Austin for the World Television Championship on the January 12 episode of " Main Event " , but was unable to win the title . After the loss , Hammer competed sporadically throughout the rest of the year ( including a brief feud with JT Southern ) before making his second Starrcade appearance , where he and his trainer Dan Spivey defeated Cactus Jack and Johnny B . Badd to qualify for the Battlebowl . In the main event , The Great Muta defeated both Hammer , Spivey and five other wrestlers to win the Battlebowl . On January 2 , 1993 , Van Hammer lost to Tony Atlas in the quarterfinals of a tournament for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship on " Saturday Night " . After the loss , Hammer continued to be a mainstay on " Saturday Night " , winning the majority of his matches . At the first - ever Slamboree pay - per - view , Van Hammer lost his match with Sid Vicious in only 35 seconds . This was his final match before leaving WCW . Return to WCW ( 1997 – 2000 ) . The Flock ( 1997 – 1998 ) . Hildreth returned to WCW in November 1997 under the shortened ring name Hammer , where he was placed in Raven ' s stable The Flock . Despite being an undercarder , much like the rest of The Flock ' s members , he was granted a title match against the United States Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page on the February 23 , 1998 episode of " Monday Nitro " , but was unsuccessful in winning the title . On the March 2 , 1998 episode of " Nitro " , Hammer lost to Page via disqualification in a title rematch . Singles competition ( 1998 – 1999 ) . Hammer began jobbing to several top stars before winning a Loser Leaves The Flock match against fellow Flock member Perry Saturn on a special Friday episode of " Nitro " on May 4 . Despite the win , The Flock attacked Hammer after the match and he was thrown out of the group . In his first match following his expulsion from The Flock , Hammer faced the new United States Heavyweight Champion Goldberg for the title the following night on " Saturday Night " , but lost . He then abandoned the grunge - related attire he had while with The Flock and became a face by adopting a hippie gimmick . After spending the rest of 1998 and January 1999 jobbing , he became a heel again and changed his gimmick to that an anti - pacifist and returned to using his full Van Hammer name . Following this , he began a short winning streak over the next few weeks before losing to Bam Bam Bigelow on the February 22 , 1999 episode of " Nitro " . Van Hammer quickly rebounded and began another winning streak over the following weeks on " Nitro " , " Thunder " , " Saturday Night " and even on pay - per - view at The Great American Bash on June 13 by defeating Mikey Whipwreck . Hammer ' s winning streak was ended a few weeks later as he lost to Rick Steiner in a titlr match for Steiner ' s World Television Championship on July 11 at Bash at the Beach . On the October 11 episode of " Nitro " , Hammer lost to Sid Vicious in a match for the United States Heavyweight Championship . Misfits In Action and departure ( 2000 ) . On the May 2 , 2000 episode of " Thunder " , Hammer participated in a 41 - man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship , which was ultimately won by Ric Flair . Soon afterwards , Hammer joined the Misfits In Action and was renamed Major Stash so as to fit in with the stable ' s military gimmick . He was originally to be named Private Stash , as an inside joke to marijuana , but balked at being given the lowest rank in the stable , leading him to being " promoted " to " Major " . However , Stash ' s tenure with the Misfits was short - lived , as he wrestled what turned out to be his final match in WCW , a losing effort to The Demon on the July 12 , 2000 episode of " Thunder " , as he was released from his contract shortly after . Maryland Championship Wrestling and retirement ( 2001 – 2003 , 2009 ) . After leaving WCW , Hildreth took a brief hiatus from wrestling . On March 16 , 2001 , under his Van Hammer ring name and rock star gimmick , he lost to Thrasher in a match for Maryland Championship Wrestling . He returned to MCW on June 9 , and defeated Dino Devine . On December 16 , he teamed with Cowboy to defeat Devine and Chad Bowman . On February 16 , 2002 , Hammer teamed with Cowboy in a rematch against Devine and Bowman , which he and Cowboy lost . After a year long hiatus , Van Hammer returned to MCW on July 16 , 2003 at MCW ' s annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup , where he won an eight - man tag team match alongside Gillberg , Thrasher and Kelly Bell against Brock Singleton , Genesis and The Holy Rollers ( Earl the Pearl and Rich Meyes ) . In 2009 , Hildreth attended an MCW show where wrestler Champ Champagne performed a promo calling Hildreth washed up , comparing him to Mickey Rourke ' s character , Randy " The Ram " Robinson , from the film " The Wrestler " . In response , Hildreth entered the ring , but Champagne fled before a fight could break out . On April 11 , 2009 , at MCW ' s event Xtreme Measures , Hildreth came out of retirement for one night only , and Van Hammer defeated Champ Champagne in a singles match . Personal life . Before becoming a wrestler , Hildreth joined the United States Navy after graduating from high school and traveled around the world while on tour . He married twice . His second wife , Alexis , has a whole page in " PWI ' s Women of Wrestling " ( Collector ' s Edition ) . He is also good friends with fellow WCW alumnus Diamond Dallas Page .