In May 2006, Yun made a return to WWE, as Akio, on an edition of "Heat", working as an enhancement talent in a try-out match with Charlie Haas. This match impressed WWE, and they re-signed him once more. Beginning with the August 25, 2006 edition of "SmackDown!", vignettes began airing featuring Yun dressed as a cowboy and calling himself Jimmy Wang Yang, in the process cutting his previously long hair short and growing a Fu Manchu moustache to fit the gimmick. In the vignettes, Yang questioned why people would assume stereotypical Asian things about him while proclaiming that he was much more of a redneck, of which he was proud. The vignettes played for several weeks, with Yang focusing more on his redneck leanings. On the September 29 "SmackDown!", he made his in-ring debut in a loss to Sylvan, who illegally used the ropes for leverage to get a pin.