text: Following his release from WWE, Hugger began wrestling for the Japanese All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion after his friend Troy Endres, who was portraying a fake Great Muta, retired after tearing both of his anterior cruciate ligaments and nominated Hugger as his replacement. Hugger donned a mask and adopted the character of GREAT MUTA, losing to the real Great Muta at The Unchained World on December 5, 2004 in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
  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. The Voodoo Murders, who declared that they wished to destroy AJPW, eventually expanded to include several other WCW and WWE alumni, including Chuck Palumbo.
  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.