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A young Hoofer was going through just another day at work when he was encountered a gentleman wearing an old ECW shirt featuring Tommy Dreamer, Beulah, and Kimona. Hoof had been a fan since the time Hogan bested the Iron Sheik at MSG to change the business forever. He had even begun to 'smarten up' a bit on the internet and such. Hoofer struck up a conversation with this man, who turned out to be long time wrestling photographer/fan Marvin Rubin. Mr. Rubin was also a friend of Eddie Sharkey, Minnesota wrestling's 'Trainer of Champions.' Marvin was soon meeting Eddie down the block for coffee, and invited Hoofer to meet the legend. The dominoes had already begun to fall at that point, and young Hoof Daddy was going to wrestling camp.
The first day of camp would never be forgotten. The Hoofster was scared as hell climbing through the ropes, as the vets eyed up the skinny kid with ridiculous hair. Sharkey's co-trainer, Terry Fox, began to teach him the rudiments of bumping. Several of the more experienced wrestlers helped greatly in getting the rookie's feet wet. Scott Free and Smilin' Jack (Devin Nash) showed great patience in getting the kid to bump right. (The soon-to-be Doctor) Darin Davis was always a kind, helping hand as well. A couple of guys, Pete and Dan, also started shortly thereafter and the three are sort of regarded as the 'class of fall 1998.' These were times of great physical pain for Hoof, but at the same time he could detect this was something he would love doing and stuck with it. Several months of training passed, and late one afternoon, the Hoofer was approached by Terry. It was time for his first match.
By February of 1999, the fall class' ring personas were beginning to take shape. Dan would become giant super-face Mitch Paradise. Pete was Seattle grunger Damien Navarro. Hoof figured, like the others, to become an exaggerated version of himself, and became heavy metal super-stud Big Daddy Hoofer. His debut match was on a show put on by Wisconsin promoter/worker The Mighty Angus. The bout was set to be a dual debut - Big Daddy versus. Damien Navarro. Though over three hours away from the Twin Cities, both competitors had a nice pack of friends travel to see the debuts. The wrestling was poor, yet almost bordering on average at times. The ring gear was awful: Navarro was part of the already passe Raven/Kidman cut-off jeans era, and Hoof wore, of all things a 'HOOFER 3:16' shirt, apparently hoping to get some rub off of the Steve Austin craze. But the boys had to start somewhere - they had their lump of clay, now it was time to mold it.
1999 wore on and Big Daddy went to work on honing his craft. Mago and STX, the High Rollers, ran the FLWA and ran regular shows at the Wave in Waverly, MN. They began to regularly book the Hoofer. He was a nasty heel at heart. However, his loyal fans, now renowned as the HOOFpak, always turned out in droves at The Wave, so he became a good guy (babyface.) His early run included an angle with AWA legend Buck 'Rock n' Roll' Zumhofe. Damien Navarro ditched his grunger gimmick and became 'Playboy' Pete Huge. The Hoofer/Huge feud ran rampant across the upper midwest, highlighted by a great twenty minute battle in front of a huge crowd at the North Dakota State Fair that began to cement their repuatation among the veteran workers. In the fall of '99, veteran grappler Ian Xavier approached Big Daddy with a proposal.
Ian suggested forming an evil heel tag team. Soon thereafter, Hoof and Xavier formed 'Cruel and Unusual.' Buxom blonde Cynammon took over the managerial duties for the pair and bookings began to really pick up, as the heel tag team was a niche that needed to be filled in the local scene. They quickly acquired the MIW (Terry Fox promotion) tag team titles. A brief run with Ed Hellier's SPCW ensued, but Big Daddy was too green to stick on with this group. Ed Sharkey's promotion, Wrestle America 2000, soon saw C & U wearing their tag belts as well.
In the spring of 2000, BDH was booked back in singles competition at Fridley's Main Event, and due to his box office appeal, soon enjoyed a brief run as the WA2K cruiserweight champion, defeating Sheriff Johnny Emerald. The title run was brief and unmemorable; though improving, Hoof was too inexperienced to do a title belt proud. Cruel & Unusual kept plugging away, enduring a brutal cage match in a thunderstorm at The Wave. The duo also became regulars for the Sheriff's MPW and were the most hated heels at the Bloomington Armory.
The end of 2000 saw the beginning of Sharkey booking Grumpy's, a downtown Minneapolis bar often favored by Big Daddy on a Saturday night. It became a hotbed for BDH, as the HOOFpak saw a resurgence and Big Daddy stepped up from putting on passable matches to decent/good ones. Into early 2001, some of his most memorable matches took place, facing Dr. Darin and Helmut von Strauss. Big Mitch Paradise suffered a rare defeat at the hands of Big Daddy there in a match that really laid legitimacy to the Hoofer's spot on the map. Also, Hoof and Pete had a rematch of their debut on the exact two year anniversary of that bout. It was a great and violent battle that showed how far both had come in their two years in the ring. These battles started to bring out a new side in not only the Hoofer, but also wrestling fans.
The fans (not charter members of the HOOFpak) soon began to take a liking to the brash blonde. A TV bout in Kimball against Red Lightning saw Hoofer's lip split off of a vicious spinning heel kick, and he became a mess of blood. The crowd loved the valiant comeback and cheered wildly as a bloody BDH flew from the top rope with his big splash, the 'Muffdive.' Also cementing his babyface status was a series of matches in Somerset at a heavy metal festival called 'X-Fest."