In late 1996, approximately a year after his return to ECW, Douglas and his valet Francine formed an alliance with Chris Candido and the man for hire "Bulldozer" Brian Lee. In January 1997 at House Party, they formally dubbed themselves The Triple Threat. Douglas held the ECW World Television Championship, but sought to regain the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. In early 1997, a masked man (who displayed the mannerisms of Rick Rude) began stalking Francine. At ECW's first pay-per-view event Barely Legal, the man was revealed to be Brian Lee, who was kicked out of the Triple Threat for betraying Douglas.