He bounced back on 29 November, with wins over Kofi Kingston and John Morrison to become the 2010 King of the Ring, after receiving a bye through the second round. As "King Sheamus", he faced Morrison again at the pay-per-view for a future WWE Championship match, but lost in a ladder match. Going into 2011, he continued to lose to Morrison in a mixture of singles and tag team matches. Triple H returned on 28 February and took revenge for his scripted ten-month injury by putting Sheamus through the announce table.