Eugene made his return to WWE in the Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 29, 2006, as the eighteenth entrant. He was eliminated by Chris Benoit. At WrestleMania 22, Eugene competed in a preshow battle royal which was won by Viscera. Eugene briefly feuded with Matt Striker, after appearing in the "Matt Striker's Classroom" segment of Backlash on April 30, 2006. Striker ultimately defeated Eugene to end the feud. After appearing at ECW One Night Stand, Eugene formed a tag team with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. He challenged Umaga to a match at Vengeance and lost, despite having Duggan, Doink the Clown, and Kamala in his corner. He defeated Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon in a handicap match on the July 10 "Raw", after interference from D-Generation X. On the September 4 "Raw", Eugene and Duggan challenged World Tag Team Champions the Spirit Squad for the title, but were unsuccessful. The team split up on the November 6 "Raw". After losing a rematch to The Spirit Squad, Eugene attacked Duggan, turning heel for the first time in his WWE career. However, the angle was soon dropped and, before the end of the year, Eugene became a face again. After this, he wrestled mainly on the "Raw" B-show, "Heat".