In September 1996, Brakkus signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Brakkus made his debut on November 30, 1996, under the ring name Argo, defeating Dr. X at a house show in Lowell, Massachusetts. On December 2, 1996, he was renamed Brakkus.
He wrestled at WWF house shows and in dark matches throughout late 1996 and 1997, including a dark match at the In Your House 12: It's Time pay-per-view on 15 December 1996. His regular opponents included Tony DeVito, Rockabilly, The Sultan and The Jackyl. In mid-1997, vignettes began airing to promote Brakkus' debut on WWF television in which he threatened members of the WWF roster such as Vader and Triple H.
In late-1997, Brakkus was sent by the WWF to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as part of a working relationship between the two promotions.
In ECW, Brakkus was part of the Wright Connection, a stable led by Lance Wright along with Doug Furnas, Phil Lafon and Droz. At November to Remember 1997, Brakkus, Furnas and Lafon interfered in a "WWF versus ECW" flag match between Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer.
Brakkus feuded with ECW mainstay Taz, ultimately challenging him for the ECW World Television Championship at CyberSlam 1998 on 21 February 1998. The match saw Brakkus powerbomb Taz twice before receiving a suplex through a table and submitting to the Tazmission. The match aired in syndication on 25 February 1998, episode of ECW Hardcore TV.
Brakkus was recalled to the WWF in March 1998, making his WWF television debut on the March 17, 1998 episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, losing to The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust. He then traveled to Europe with the WWF, losing to Jeff Jarrett at WWF Mayhem in Manchester on April 4. He went on to wrestle Jarrett at live events in Oberhausen, Berlin and Bayreuth during the DX in Germany tour. During this period, Brakkus routinely wore a chainmail vest to the ring.
In the summer of 1998, he was entered in the WWF Brawl for All, a shootfighting tournament. He faced Savio Vega in a first round match on July 6, episode of Monday Night Raw. He was eliminated from the tournament after Vega won the match on points, with Brakkus sustaining a bloodied nose. He went on to defeat Jesús Castillo, Jr. of Los Boricuas in a squash match on the July 27, 1998 episode of Raw is War in his final televised WWF match.