"Heavy Metal" Van Hammer

[NSL]

Why...Why was he so over? I'm watching Halloween Havoc 1991, and the building just about exploded when his music started. He had a decent look...Well, at least it was unique. His moveset was very ordinary, and I don't recall him being anything special on the mic.

The crowd went nuts though. There's still a few matches to go, but so far no one has rivaled his pop except for Sting and the Steiners. Transplant that character into any other era of wrestling, and he'd be jobbing to guys like Sting...

 

[X]

That's just the kind of crowds you'd get from WCW during the early 90s. Bizarre crowds, some strange mixture of the traditional southern wrestling crowd and all kinds of kiddies there to see their hero Sting. Give a guy a name like Van Hammer and any child will begin clapping, pretty sure that's Newton's 8th Law.

He wasn't too bad though, he actually had a few decent matches with Cactus Jack. Nothing extraordinary, but he wasn't bad.

What I'd like to know is not how he got over in 1991, but why the fuck WCW kept him employed for another decade.

 

[NSL]

What I'd like to know is not how he got over in 1991, but why the fuck WCW kept him employed for another decade.

I'm a firm believer they kept him around because there was a quota on nipple rings, and the Nitro Girls refused to go under the needle. I have nothing else.

I remember him as a member of the Flock, but don't actually remember any matches during that time. They just made sure to point him out while the Flock walked to ringside, or when they were jumping someone.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

it was said WCW would hire people to play as fans in the early 90's because they wouldn't sell a lot of seats. so you had fake fans cheering faces and booing heels, maybe that's why he got such a big pop

 

[KillBill]

I actually liked him in his second run, never really watched WCW in early 90's. I remember how after he left flock, he was a fun loving hippie, came back and had a decent run as a heel to the point he got a TV title match at a ppv.

 

[gully side adidja]

what the hell van hammer, surprised people even remember him, he was complete garbage he use to come out with a peace t shirt which is just stupid in a fighting sport, he looked like a fucking hippe who got dressed in the dark, and then slept in a bush,before coming to work, a complete embarassment.