At the 2006 Royal Rumble, Helms would win SmackDown!'s WWE Cruiserweight Championship (even though he was, at the time, a superstar on RAW ) in an Open Invitational to all former Cruiserweight Champions. The participants were Helms, the reigning champion Kid Kash, Funaki, Paul London, Jamie Noble, and Nunzio. Helms won after hitting the Shining Wizard on Funaki.
He would make his return to the SmackDown! brand in February 2006, to start a feud with Nunzio, Kid Kash and the other cruiserweights. During this time, Helms defeated Nunzio in a one-on-one match. The week afterwards, he was supposed to defend against Kid Kash but Kash was away on a family emergency so Scotty 2 Hotty took his place. Helms defeated Scotty 2 Hotty and cut a promo about being better than all of the cruiserweights. At this point all the cruiserweights at the show (who were in contention for the belt) invaded the ring and beat down Helms using all of their signature moves. It was later announced by SmackDown! General Manager, Theodore Long, at No Way Out, Helms would be set to face all these cruiserweights in a match for the title. Helms was able to retain the championship. Later, Long mandated that Helms has to defend his title against a cruiserweight each week on SmackDown! to prove that he is better than all the cruiserweights. Helm's first defense under this new rule was against Psicosis of the Mexicools; Helms once again retained with help from the ropes.
On the March 10, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Teddy Long told Helms that he didn't have to defend his title due to the fact that he had a broken nose (Which he suffered during a Smackdown! trip to Brisbane, Australia). Instead, Long put Helms in a champion vs. champion match against United States Champion Chris Benoit. During the match, Helms narrowly escaped a Sharpshooter and left the ring. However, his escape was blocked by four other cruiserweights - Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick - who grabbed Helms and threw him back into the ring, where Benoit locked in the crossface for the win.
Helms went on to undergo successful surgery on his nose was expected to miss five to six weeks. During this time SmackDown! announcers would state that Helms had a no-compete clause in his contract allowing him to waive the 30 day title defense rule due to any injury. Helms returned to the ring during the April 28, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, teaming with MNM to face Paul London, Brian Kendrick and Super Crazy in a six-man tag team competition. Helms continued on with defending his belt during PPV's but made more regular appearances on SmackDown!'s sister show, WWE Velocity.
Helms would continue on defending his title against other cruiserweights while on occasion facing off against SmackDown!'s other title holders in champion vs. champion matches. Helms would face then World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio on June 16, 2006 and then United States Champion Bobby Lashley on July 7, 2006, losing both matches. During this time, Helms also faced off against The Undertaker; in a losing effort. Eventually, Helms became the longest cruiserweight champion in WWE history, as well as the longest reigning champion in SmackDown history and for much of late 2006 would feud with Matt Hardy who Helms exchanged victories with in several matches on SmackDown! and on PPV. The feud would also see the two rivals join opposing Survivor Series teams at that years event, where Helms was a part of Team Rated-RKO and Hardy in Team DX.
He would make his return to the SmackDown! brand in February 2006, to start a feud with Nunzio, Kid Kash and the other cruiserweights. During this time, Helms defeated Nunzio in a one-on-one match. The week afterwards, he was supposed to defend against Kid Kash but Kash was away on a family emergency so Scotty 2 Hotty took his place. Helms defeated Scotty 2 Hotty and cut a promo about being better than all of the cruiserweights. At this point all the cruiserweights at the show (who were in contention for the belt) invaded the ring and beat down Helms using all of their signature moves. It was later announced by SmackDown! General Manager, Theodore Long, at No Way Out, Helms would be set to face all these cruiserweights in a match for the title. Helms was able to retain the championship. Later, Long mandated that Helms has to defend his title against a cruiserweight each week on SmackDown! to prove that he is better than all the cruiserweights. Helm's first defense under this new rule was against Psicosis of the Mexicools; Helms once again retained with help from the ropes.
On the March 10, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Teddy Long told Helms that he didn't have to defend his title due to the fact that he had a broken nose (Which he suffered during a Smackdown! trip to Brisbane, Australia). Instead, Long put Helms in a champion vs. champion match against United States Champion Chris Benoit. During the match, Helms narrowly escaped a Sharpshooter and left the ring. However, his escape was blocked by four other cruiserweights - Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick - who grabbed Helms and threw him back into the ring, where Benoit locked in the crossface for the win.
Helms went on to undergo successful surgery on his nose was expected to miss five to six weeks. During this time SmackDown! announcers would state that Helms had a no-compete clause in his contract allowing him to waive the 30 day title defense rule due to any injury. Helms returned to the ring during the April 28, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, teaming with MNM to face Paul London, Brian Kendrick and Super Crazy in a six-man tag team competition. Helms continued on with defending his belt during PPV's but made more regular appearances on SmackDown!'s sister show, WWE Velocity.
Helms would continue on defending his title against other cruiserweights while on occasion facing off against SmackDown!'s other title holders in champion vs. champion matches. Helms would face then World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio on June 16, 2006 and then United States Champion Bobby Lashley on July 7, 2006, losing both matches. During this time, Helms also faced off against The Undertaker; in a losing effort. Eventually, Helms became the longest cruiserweight champion in WWE history, as well as the longest reigning champion in SmackDown history and for much of late 2006 would feud with Matt Hardy who Helms exchanged victories with in several matches on SmackDown! and on PPV. The feud would also see the two rivals join opposing Survivor Series teams at that years event, where Helms was a part of Team Rated-RKO and Hardy in Team DX.
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