eliminated after taking a superkick from Shawn Michaels, a match Team Rated-RKO would lose. Upon his elimination, he was subsequently mocked by DX, as he was virtually unknown compared to the other participants. His next pay-per-view appearance saw him abandon Kelly Kelly during a mixed tag team match against Kevin Thorn and Ariel at December to Dismember, resulting in his team's loss. He then attacked her on the next ECW episode, breaking the duo up for good. After being taken off television, Knox returned on February 13, 2007, episode of ECW, where he lost easily to CM Punk. Knox was again taken off television for several months in order to return to Deep South Wrestling. On March 1, Knox and Derek Neikirk, the reformed Team Elite, were booked to win the Tag Team Championship after defeating the Major Brothers. After DSW closed, however, Knox was sent to WWE's Florida-based territory Florida Championship Wrestling. Knox returned on the September 11 episode of ECW, defeating Balls Mahoney. The next week, he lost in a rematch to Mahoney. He then easily defeated Nunzio the week after. The next week Knox wrestled against ECW Champion CM Punk, again losing to Punk after a Go To Sleep from Punk. After months without any notable storylines, he began a feud with Tommy Dreamer whom he defeated in a series of matches, including an Extreme Rules match on the 100th episode of ECW. He then began a feud with Finlay. After weeks of confrontations between the two, they finally had a match on the August 26 edition of ECW, where they had an ECW Championship scramble qualifying match, which was won by Finlay. Brand switches (2008–2010) On the October 27 and November 3, 2008, episodes of Raw, two vignettes were aired to promote his arrival on the Raw brand. His look drastically changed as well from his previous clean-cut look to long unkempt hair and a long beard. He debuted the following week, on November 10, defeating D-Lo Brown. He attacked Rey Mysterio two times over a period of three weeks. After losing to Mysterio, Knox attacked Mysterio once again. Interviewer Todd Grisham asked Knox why he attacked Mysterio and Knox answered saying he did not know why. In a house show at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Knox won a battle royal to become an entrant at the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out.