World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001) 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. 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 subsequently participated alongside 19 other prospective wrestlers in a $240 tryout at the
WCW's Power Plant training center. The tryout featured
press ups, sprinting,
squats and
freestyle wrestling in temperatures of over 100 degrees. Hugger passed the tryout, but did not immediately begin training as a wrestler. Six months later, he was attacked and stabbed six times. Hugger resolved to change his lifestyle, which he believed had resulted in his assault, and enlisted in the
Power Plant, where he was finally trained to wrestle in earnest. After training, Hugger debuted for WCW as "Johnny Hugger" on the September 28, 1999 episode of
WCW WorldWide, losing to
Chuck Palumbo. Hugger's WCW Pay-Per-View debut came at their December 19, 1999
Starrcade. 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. The match was broadcast on the January 19 episode of
Thunder. They held the championship until February 12, when they were defeated by
Creative Control in
Oberhausen during a tour of
Germany. 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. On June 5, 2000, The Mamalukes attacked
Hardcore Champion Terry Funk during a title defense against WCW President
Eric Bischoff, enabling Bischoff to defeat Funk. On the June 7 episode of
Thunder, Bischoff awarded the Hardcore Championship to The Mamalukes, making them co-champions. On June 19, Big Vito defeated Hugger to become the undisputed Hardcore Champion. a collection of young wrestlers who sought to challenge more established wrestlers. Hugger eventually reconciled with Vito and reformed the Mamalukes, and the two continued teaming until WCW's closure in March 2001. Their final match in WCW was a loss to the team of
Lance Storm and
Mike Awesome on the March 12 edition of
Nitro. 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. Following this, he became a mainstay on
Heat and would later turn face due to fan reaction in late September 2002. On February 13, 2003, Stamboli was moved to the
SmackDown! brand and became a heel again when he allied with
Nunzio and Chuck Palumbo to attack
Rikishi. Together, the trio became the
Full Blooded Italians.
Independent circuit (2005–2007) In 2005, Hugger and Chuck Palumbo reformed the Full Blooded Italians in the
Italy-based Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion. 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. Hugger based Redrum on the Great Muta character he had portrayed in AJPW.
Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2007) In the summer of 2007, Hugger wrestled two
dark matches for World Wrestling Entertainment, using the ring name The Unknown Wrestler defeating
Chavo Guerrero Jr. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–2008) 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. He debuted in TNA on November 11, 2007 at the pay-per-view
Genesis. In his next appearance, his ring name was changed to Rellik (killer spelt backwards). He then aligned himself with
Black Reign and
James Mitchell, with he and Reign forming a
tag team. In their debut match as a team, they lost to
Abyss and
Raven at
Turning Point in a
Match of 10,000 Tacks. 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!. Rellik took part in a tournament to crown number one contenders for the
LLUSA Heavyweight Championship but was defeated by
Charly Malice in the first round of the tournament. Hugger Joined
Lizmark, Jr.'s stable Treachery along with
Sydistiko. On December 12, 2010, Treachery (Rellik and
Sydistiko) defeated Dinastia (
El Oriental and
Tinieblas, Jr.) in a tag match to advance into the 3-way tag team title match, Rellik helped
Lizmark, Jr. to win the
LLUSA Heavyweight Championship by blinding Marco Corleone with powder. On January 22, 2011, Rudisimo (
El Oriental and
Tinieblas, Jr.) defeated Puerto Rican Power (P.R. Flyer and San Juan Kid) and Treachery (Rellik and
Sydistiko) in a three-way tag match to become the inaugural
Lucha Libre USA Tag Team Champions. On March 19,
Marco Corleone and
Shane Helms defeated Treachery (Rellik and Sydistiko) in a tag team match, and later on in the main event, Rellik took part in a lucha roulette elimination number one contenders match for the
LLUSA Championship, which was won by Charly Malice.
Later career (2011–2014) Hugger wrestled as Johnny Stamboli for the
Phoenix, Arizona based IWF promotion. He teamed with Tyson Tyler as "G.F.Y.". Hugger also appeared in IWF as "REDRUM", a character similar to Rellik. As REDRUM, Hugger lost via
disqualification to
The Hurricane on May 15, 2014. This was Hugger's last wrestling match. ==Personal life==