{"id":188880,"date":"2026-04-19T14:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?p=188880"},"modified":"2026-04-19T14:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:26:13","slug":"van-hammer-dead-at-age-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2026\/04\/19\/van-hammer-dead-at-age-66\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Hammer dead at age 66"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"prowr-1932293412\" class=\"prowr-apple-podcast-button-link prowr-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast\/id1365989370\" aria-label=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?fit=320%2C78&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?w=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?resize=300%2C73&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" width=\"320\" height=\"78\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><b>By Jason Powell<\/b>, ProWrestling.net Editor (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prowrestlingnet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@prowrestlingnet<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Former pro wrestler Van Hammer (Mark Hildreth) has died at age 66. Marc Mero shared the news via social media. &#8220;It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of our dear friend, Mark Hildreth, known to so many as Van Hammer.&#8221; Mero wrote. &#8220;At this time, we are still awaiting answers regarding the cause, pending an autopsy.&#8221; Read Mero&#8217;s full statement below or via his <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MarcMero\/status\/2045927323338260673\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Powell&#8217;s POV:<\/strong><\/span> Hammer debuted in 1991. Despite Hammer having only one match, Dusty Rhodes offered him a tryout match against Mero. They were both signed to WCW. Hammer spent most of his career with the company, with runs from 1991 through 1995, and from 1997 through 2000. My condolences to his friends and family.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of our dear friend, Mark Hildreth, known to so many as Van Hammer. At this time, we are still awaiting answers regarding the cause, pending an autopsy.<\/p>\n<p>Mark was a fighter in every sense of the word. Life threw its share of\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Tb7d0zQtJr\">pic.twitter.com\/Tb7d0zQtJr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marc Mero (@MarcMero) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarcMero\/status\/2045927323338260673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><i>(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast--3275525\">Pro Wrestling Boom<\/a>, and also appears regularly on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/category\/podcasts\/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast\/\">Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast<\/a>. Reach him via email at <a href=\"mailto:dotnetjason@gmail.com\">dotnetjason@gmail.com<\/a> and on social media via <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/prowrestlingnet.bsky.social\">@prowrestlingnet.bsky.social<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prowrestlingnet\">x.com\/prowrestlingnet<\/a>. For his full bio and information on this website, click <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/about-us\/\">here<\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"prowr-3985230222\" class=\"prowr-after-content prowr-entity-placement\"><a class=\"spreaker-player\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/pwboom\" data-resource=\"show_id=3275525\" data-theme=\"light\" data-playlist=\"show\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"340px\">Listen to \"Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast\" on Spreaker.<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[892,3695,5828,309],"class_list":["post-188880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-misc_news","category-newsticker","tag-dustin-rhodes","tag-marc-mero","tag-van-hammer","tag-wcw"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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