 Helms continued defending his title against other cruiserweights , while on occasion facing off against SmackDown ! ' s other title holders in champion versus champion matches . Helms faced World Heavyweight Champion Rey <unk> on June 16 and United States Champion Bobby <unk> on July 7 but lost both matches . Eventually , Helms became the longest <unk> champion in WWE history , as well as the longest reigning champion of any kind in SmackDown ! history . For much of late 2006 , he feuded with Matt Hardy , with whom Helms exchanged several victories in matches on SmackDown ! . In Helms ' hometown of <unk> , North Carolina , at the 2006 No Mercy pay @-@ per @-@ view , Hardy beat Helms . The two rivals also joined opposing teams at Survivor Series , where Helms was in Team Rated @-@ RKO , and Hardy was a member of Team <unk> ; Team Rated @-@ RKO lost the match . 
