[2] While attending college in Atlanta, Georgia and working as a doorman at the Club Oxygen nightclub, Hugger exercised at the Main Event Fitness gym, which was owned by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) employees Lex Luger and Sting.
[4] During one of his visits to the gym, WCW employee Diamond Dallas Page met with Hugger and encouraged him to train as a wrestler.
Hugger resolved to change his lifestyle, which he believed had resulted in his assault, and enlisted in the Power Plant,[5] where he was finally trained to wrestle in earnest.
[8] He adopted the ring name "Johnny the Bull" and formed a Mafia-themed tag team called the Mamalukes with Big Vito, which was managed by Tony Marinara.
[5] On January 18, 2000 in Evansville, Indiana, Hugger and Big Vito defeated Crowbar and David Flair for the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
The Mamalukes regained the championship on the following day in Leipzig, and held it until March 19, when they lost to Creative Control in a no disqualification match at the pay-per-view Uncensored, which took place in the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
[7] On the July 3 episode of Nitro, while wrestling Funk in a hardcore match, Hugger tore his urethra while executing a diving leg drop and was sidelined for two months while recuperating.
[16][17] On the July 29 episode of Raw, Stamboli won the Hardcore Championship once again after pinning Jeff Hardy, but lost the title a few seconds later to Tommy Dreamer.
[5] On January 2, 2005 in the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Hugger dropped his Great Muta character and formed a stable with Taru known as the Voodoo Murders.
In 2006, Hugger toured Mexico, teaming with Marco Corleone in the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre promotion.
In late 2006, Hugger began working for the Arizona-based Impact Zone Wrestling promotion, where he created a character named REDRUM, a reference to the 1980 film The Shining.
In late 2007, Hugger exhibited his REDRUM character for Jeff Jarrett, Vince Russo and Terry Taylor, members of the creative team of the Orlando, Florida-based Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, and was subsequently hired.
[20] After losing several matches, the team picked up its first and only victory after defeating The Motor City Machineguns on the March 10, 2008 episode of Impact!.
Hugger returned to wrestling on June 6, 2010 Lucha Libre USA debut match saw him, as Rellik, team with Misteriosito in a losing effort against Lujo Esquire and Octagoncito.