While recuperating, Van Dam made an appearance at the ECW reunion pay-per-view ECW One Night Stand. Accompanied by his former manager Bill Alfonso and sporting a knee brace, Van Dam delivered a worked shoot promo, standing up for ECW and criticizing the way he had been booked in WWE, until he was attacked by Rhyno. He was saved by Sabu, who defeated Rhyno in an impromptu match. Despite his injury, Van Dam got physically involved in the match, hitting Rhyno with a chairshot and giving him a Chair Surf. On the June 27 episode of "Raw", Van Dam, while still healing, was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2005 draft lottery. He was introduced to "Raw" by Carlito, who insulted Van Dam before attacking him and assaulting his knee. Van Dam made his return to the ring over seven months later at the Royal Rumble. He gained revenge on Carlito by eliminating him, but was in turn inadvertently eliminated by Rey Mysterio in the final moments. On the February 6 episode of "Raw", Van Dam defeated Carlito in the first round of the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, but lost in the final round to Triple H, in a triple threat match, which also featured Big Show. Later, Van Dam defeated Trevor Murdoch to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. Van Dam went on to win the match, thus earning himself a guaranteed shot at either the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship at any time within the subsequent year.