On July 28, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky, Kozlov won the OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Paul Burchill, but gave the Championship the same night to Michael W. Kruel due to an agreement they made before.
Nel suo primo match sconfisse Matt Bentley, e nelle settimane successive, Proud vinse molti squash match (match corti e dominati da un unico wrestler), prima contro wrestler locali, poi contro lottatori affermati, come Colin Delaney, Funaki, Festus, Nunzio, Shannon Moore, Jimmy Wang Yang, Jamie Noble e Domino.