In late 2011, he formed a team with Donny Marlow and they challenged the Florida Tag Team Champions Calvin Raines and Big E Langston on July 8 but were unsuccessful in winning their match. On the February 5 episode of FCW television, he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship but he was unable to win the championship when he was defeated by champion Kruger. He was able to win the Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton before they lost the belts to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan.