The Gimmick Table: The Origin of ‘Heavy Metal’ Van Hammer

Brian Damage

A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality. Whatever the case may be, some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not-so-favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.

Today We Browse The Gimmick Of Heavy Metal Van Hammer

Mark Hildreth was just a few months into his career as a pro wrestler, when he was spotted by WCW booker Dusty Rhodes and immediately signed to a deal. Hildreth had the look of a future star in the wrestling business standing 6 ft 6 in tall and nearly 300 pounds of muscle. Like Hildreth’s friend Marc Mero who became a personal project of Dusty…so did Hildreth. 

Dusty gave Hildreth a rock n roll gimmick to appeal to a younger fanbase. The name he came up with was ‘Heavy Metal’ Van Hammer. The name Van was derived from the popular rock group Van Halen and Hammer was recycled from Hildreth’s first gimmick where he was known simply as ‘The Hammer.’ The Hammer was rumored to be based on Hildreth’s resemblance to the comic book hero Thor who wielded a mystical hammer. In any case, he was bestowed the name of Van Hammer and given a guitar as a part of his gimmick.

According to Van Hammer himself, he did not know how to play a single note on the instrument and was used mostly as “show” for the character. Not long after the Heavy Metal Van Hammer gimmick debuted on WCW television, the grunge band Nirvana debuted their Nevermind album. An album that completely turned the music scene upside down. Soon, the Heavy Metal gimmick became cliche and old hat. Add to that, Hammer admitted that he didn’t work as hard as he should have to improving his in ring and promo skills. 

Despite all the flaws with the Van Hammer gimmick, he was able to remain with WCW until 1993. He would return to the company a couple of times under the same name but several tweaks to his gimmick. 

You can read other Gimmick Table entries here