in 1984. Bruce Hart gave Croitoru the ring name Orhan Turgedan, The Terrible Turk, a name Croitoru only wrestled under for a short time after leaving the promotion. He continued to wrestle in Canadian independent promotions, such as Grand Prix Wrestling in the Maritimes and Superstars of Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario. In 1985, Croitoru wrestled for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he received a push and was given a reign as AWA Southern Heavyweight champion. He defeated Jerry Lawler to win the belt on August 16, but dropped it back to Lawler in a rematch on September 6. The following month, Croitoru joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Johnny K-9, where he competed until 1989. Croitoru claimed that he decided on this name while being arrested after a fight. He saw "K-9" written on a paddywagon and decided on the ring name. Croitoru's signature moves were the Stomach Claw and the Flying Headbutt. Croitoru stood six feet tall and was billed as weighing about 300 pounds. Sporting a Fu Manchu moustache and with his head shaved completely bald, he was typecast as a villain, who excelled in generating heat (fan anger) by his exploits in the ring. Croitoru usually showed up in the ring wearing black tights and a collar around his neck, and proceeded to generate "heat" from the audiences before his matches started. One television commentator stated that his fighting style was "like an animal or a dog". The Canadian journalist Adrian Humphreys called him a "hugely entertaining and dirty fighter" whose antics made him natural as a "heel". Croitoru liked his "bad boy" image, once telling a reporter he was the "baddest of the bad", going on to say "You can print that. I want everyone to know". He worked as a jobber to the stars, putting over such wrestlers as Pedro Morales, Tito Santana, and Paul Orndorff. He wrestled in many tag team matches and formed a short-lived team with Barry O in 1986, but his biggest match in the WWF was a televised match against Hulk Hogan. In his hometown of Hamilton, Croitoru was considered to be a celebrity and he was generally known as "Johnny K-9". Croitoru himself usually used that name when signing documents, and was even able to open up a bank account under his "Johnny K-9" moniker. Croitoru was only a jobber, which the journalist Jerry Langton noted was