The Jackyl received a tryout match with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996, and was eventually hired to form a tag team with Rick Martel as 'The Models'. When Martel departed the company, he was left without a gimmick.
On September 20, 1997, he debuted in the WWF as The Jackyl, a member (and eventually leader) of a group of wrestlers known as The Truth Commission. An article in WWF Magazine claimed that he was a lower-level WWF employee during the early 1990's, and that he developed a messianic complex. The Jackyl sometimes would compete in singles matches, mainly on Shotgun Saturday Night and house shows. He would also team up with and managed Kurrgan the Interrogator. The stable was not particularly successful, with their biggest achievement being their victory over the Disciples of Apocalypse at Survivor Series 1997. At WrestleMania XIV, the Jackyl ordered Kurrgan to attack Recon and Sniper, and caused the stable to disband.
The Jackyl returned to television in 1998, forming a stable known as "The Parade of Human Oddities". The group consisted of "freakish" wrestlers, including Golga and Kurrgan, and had entrance music performed by the Insane Clown Posse. The stable did not last long, and Jackyl eventually started managing the new tag team of Faarooq and Bradshaw, The Acolytes, until he was fired by WWF in 1999.
In mid-1999, he debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as Cyrus the Virus, a commentator with a gimmick similar to that of his WWF persona. He would broadcast exclusively on pay-per-view along with Joey Styles. Cyrus was soon presented as working for a faction known as The Network, under the shortened moniker of Cyrus. He would constantly criticized the violent nature of ECW programming. He singled out Joel Gertner for disciplinary measures.
Cyrus then displayed authority in ECW due to his executive position with the Network, working as a heel to crusade against ECW fan favorites. Cyrus then teamed with the anti-hardcore Steve Corino, and eventually formed a stable with Corino, his manager Jack Victory, and their hired guns Yoshihiro Tajiri and Rhino. He engaged in a long-term feud with commentator Joel Gertner, which culminated in a match on October 1, 2000, at Anarchy Rulz, in which Gertner was triumphant.
Following this, Cyrus canceled ECW on TNN. Cyrus would then go on to aid Rhino in winning his first ECW World Heavyweight Championship at the final pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged. ECW would declare bankruptcy soon after.