to avoid in-ring competition. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown Live, Hawkins accepted Dolph Ziggler's first open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, losing to Ziggler in seven seconds. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Hawkins earned his first televised victory since returning by defeating Apollo Crews, which would be his last televised victory until 2019. On the TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs pre-show, Hawkins made his pay-per-view in-ring return, where he teamed with The Ascension and The Vaudevillains against Apollo Crews, American Alpha, and The Hype Bros in a losing effort. On the March 14, 2017 episode of SmackDown Live, in a backstage segment, Hawkins declared he would be competing in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, where the match was won by Mojo Rawley. Losing streak storyline (2017–2019) On April 10, Hawkins was moved to the Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. During this time, he suffered many losses to Apollo Crews, Finn Bálor, Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan. In July 2017, it was revealed that Hawkins had a losing streak of 100 matches, claimed by WWE to be the longest losing streak of the 'modern era'. This was soon included into Hawkins’ gimmick. At Great Balls of Fire on July 9, Hawkins competed in his only main card pay-per-view match of 2017, in a quick loss to Heath Slater. By the end of 2017, Hawkins failed to win a match, ending the year with over 150 consecutive losses. In early 2018, Hawkins regularly wrestled on Main Event and continued his losing streak, with Hawkins achieving numerous near falls and being described as a "sympathetic figure at this point." At WrestleMania 34, Hawkins competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which was won by Matt Hardy. At the Greatest Royal Rumble, Hawkins entered at number 43, but was quickly eliminated by Braun Strowman. On the June 4 episode of Raw, Hawkins earned his 200th consecutive loss to a local wrestler after Baron Corbin interrupted Hawkins' match and attacked his opponent, causing Hawkins to lose via disqualification. In November, Hawkins competed in the second season of WWE Mixed Match Challenge, teaming with Ember Moon after Moon's previous partner Braun Strowman was unable to compete due to an elbow injury. On November 27, Hawkins and Moon were eliminated from the competition, losing to Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox in the quarterfinals.