As part of The Spirit Squad, a group consisting of five wrestlers who used the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, he adopted the name Mitch. As a result of his ACL injury, his ability to wrestle was curtailed and Mitch spent the first few months of his time in the Spirit Squad in a non-wrestling role. On January 23, 2006, they had their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on "Raw" and helping Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler. They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The villainous McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.