AEW's Tony Schiavone Says This WCW Star Was A 'Terrible' Worker

During his long tenure with WCW, AEW announcer Tony Schiavone got to see a lot of wrestlers perform. One of them was a man named Van Hammer. Joining WCW in 1991, Hammer was a WCW mainstay almost all the way to the promotion closing down in 2001. Despite that longevity, he didn't really do a whole lot, winning no singles or tag team titles while with WCW, while largely bouncing around the midcard. He would do even less once WCW closed down, with Hammer wrestling only sixteen matches between 2001 and 2003 before finally calling it a career, save for a brief return to the ring in 2009. Most recently, Hammer was in the news for being arrested for DUI in 2020.

To hear Schiavone say it over the years, there was a good reason the former Raven's Fock and Misfits In Action member didn't really do a whole lot. On the most recent episode of "What Happened When," Schiavone gave a less than flattering critique about Hammer as a performer, which was of no surprise, given Schiavone has made Hammer a punching bag of sorts throughout the podcast's history. This time, however, Schiavone explained why he has such a low opinion of Hammer's work.

"The reason I say a lot of unkind things about Van Hammer's work...is that Van Hammer was a terrible worker," Schiavone said. "We know that. But I also remember, in the back, him trying to structure a match. And I remember thinking 'Oh brother.' But you know, he really believed in himself and thought he knew what he was doing, which I guess you've got to, right?"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What Happened When" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription