and Kendrick on several occasions, they earned a WWE Tag Team Championship match at Armageddon in December. The match was changed into a fatal-four way ladder match also involving MNM and The Hardys, and London and Kendrick retained their titles. In a subsequent regular tag rematch on SmackDown! Regal and Taylor came up short of winning the titles. After WrestleMania 23, Regal and Taylor began a feud with Kane when after a match between Kane and Taylor, Taylor and Regal attacked Kane. The Boogeyman soon joined the feud as Kane's tag team partner, but the feud ended after Kane defeated Regal in a singles match. On 25 May edition of SmackDown!, Regal and Taylor competed in a number one contenders match for the WWE Tag Team Championship against Kendrick and London which they lost when Deuce 'n Domino interfered, making both teams the number one contenders. This led to a triple threat match the next week on SmackDown!, where Deuce 'n Domino retained. Taylor and Regal's tag team would come to an end on 17 June when Regal was drafted to Raw during the Supplemental Draft. Following Regal's departure, Taylor was absent from SmackDown! for several weeks and began teaming with Paul Burchill at house shows and dark matches. Since then, Taylor had only competed on SmackDown! sparingly, competing in a 20-Man Battle Royal for the then-vacant World Heavyweight Championship and losing a match to former rival Kane. Taylor brought Drew McIntyre to SmackDown! in October 2007 and acted as his mentor, but McIntyre would only make a few appearances before moving to the Raw brand in January 2008. Following McIntyre's move, Taylor went on a leave of absence from WWE television. He was released by WWE on 28 April 2008. Independent circuit (2008–2012) On 26 and 27 September Taylor took part in the 2008 Ted Petty Invitational held by IWA Mid-South in Joliet, Illinois. He defeated Tracy Smothers in the first round, but lost out to Claudio Castagnoli in the quarter finals. On 24 January 2009, Taylor failed to show for an event by Superstar Wrestling at the Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, leading to a number of spectators leaving the arena upon finding out the news. From 27 to 29 March 2009, he competed in Chikara's King of Trios Tournament as a member of "Team Uppercut", along with Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson. The team made