On March 17, 2006, WWE released an interview with Moore talking about his imminent return to the company. In July 2006, Moore began appearing as part of WWE's ECW brand, making his first appearances in vignettes calling himself "The Reject". His in-ring debut was a loss to CM Punk on September 12, a week before Punk had confronted Moore and called him a "poser" before slapping him. After one more loss to Punk, Moore made only sporadic appearances throughout the rest of 2006 and early 2007, losing each time.