On the March 5 "Raw", Marella defeated Jack Swagger to win the United States Championship. On the following episode of "SmackDown", Marella successfully defended the title against Swagger in a steel cage match, by escaping through the cage door. At WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1, Marella was the team captain of Team Teddy, which lost to Team Johnny, after interference from Eve. The following night on "Raw", Marella successfully defended the title against Swagger and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat Match, and against David Otunga on the April 16 episode. In the pre-show of Extreme Rules on April 23, Marella defeated The Miz to retain the United States Championship. The following night on "Raw", Marella unsuccessfully tried to earn a WWE Championship match at Over the Limit in a Beat the Clock Challenge against The Miz. Later that month, Marella briefly reunited with Zack Ryder, facing teams including Primo and Epico, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks and Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. Marella then feuded with Alberto Del Rio's ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, leading to a non-title Tuxedo match on June 17 at No Way Out, which Marella won. On the June 25 "Raw", Marella successfully defended the United States Championship against Jack Swagger. Four days later on "SmackDown", he and Intercontinental Champion Christian defeated David Otunga and Cody Rhodes to qualify for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, which was won by Dolph Ziggler. On the July 27 and August 3 episodes of "SmackDown", Marella lost to Antonio Cesaro in non-title matches. On August 19, on the SummerSlam pre-show, Marella lost the United States Championship to Cesaro. Marella lost his rematch for the title on the September 3 episode of "Raw". On the September 21 episode of "SmackDown", Marella defeated Cesaro in a non-title match to earn another shot at the United States Championship. The title rematch took place the following week on "SmackDown", where Marella failed in his title challenge.