ended a few weeks later as he lost to Rick Steiner in a title 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; (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. Late career (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. In October 2001, Hammer went to Japan to wrestle a tour for Big Japan Pro Wrestling. 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 Pain performed a promo calling Hildreth "washed up" and comparing him to Randy "The Ram" Robinson, the character played by Mickey Rourke in the film The Wrestler. In response, Hildreth entered the ring, but Champ Pain fled before a fight could break out. On April 11, 2009, at MCW's event Xtreme Measures, Hildreth - wrestling as "Van