Their reign together came to an end on the November 16 episode of "SmackDown!" after Hardy demanded a shot at the United States Championship, but MVP declined, and announced they had a WWE Tag Team Championship defense against John Morrison and The Miz instead. They lost the match and the titles, and immediately afterwards, MVP invoked the rematch clause, but they lost that match as well. MVP then attacked Hardy, targeting his knee, which in storyline had been injured during the matches, and put him "out of action". Hardy suffered a legitimate ruptured appendix while he was off television, putting their feud on hold. While Hardy recovered, MVP engaged in short feuds with Rey Mysterio (losing a title match by countout at Armageddon) and Ric Flair (losing a career threatening match at the Royal Rumble). At No Way Out, he competed in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match for a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV, but was eliminated by Finlay after The Undertaker chokeslammed him off the top of a chamber pod. He would instead participate in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, and during the match, Hardy made an unannounced return and knocked MVP from the ladder with his signature Twist of Fate maneuver, costing him the match and reigniting their feud. At Backlash on April 27, MVP lost the United States Championship to Hardy, ending his record reign at 343 days, which was at the time the longest reign of the WWE era, and the third longest in the entire history of the championship (the record has since broken by Dean Ambrose in 2014). He then subsequently failed to regain the championship in a rematch on the May 2 episode of "SmackDown".