On the September 21, 2012 episode of "SmackDown", Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal interfered in Slater's match against Brodus Clay by attacking Clay. The trio later settled for the name of the Three Man Band, or 3MB for short. Slater would then go on to become the brash and confident leader of the 3MB. From October 2012, 3MB racked up many wins against Team Co-Bro (Santino Marella and Zack Ryder) and the Usos, all of them due to illegal interference. At , 3MB's winning streak came to an end at the hands of The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and the Brooklyn Brawler. The next night at the Slammy Awards, 3MB lost again to Miz, Del Rio, and Tommy Dreamer. McIntyre and Mahal often interfered in Slater's matches on Slater's behalf, defending the leader of the trio. On the "20th Anniversary of Raw" on January 14, 3MB won an Over the Top Challenge against Sheamus. Slater and McIntyre represented 3MB in the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champions, but lost in the first round by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey on the January 23 "NXT". He competed in the Royal Rumble coming from number 10, but was eliminated by John Cena. On the April 12 episode of "SmackDown" Slater, along with the rest of 3MB, attempted to ambush Triple H as he was addressing Brock Lesnar, however The Shield then came out and attacked them. On the April 15 episode on "Raw", 3MB called out The Shield but instead, Brock Lesnar came out and attacked the three of them, delivering the F-5 on Slater twice on the barricade. Two weeks later on "Raw", 3MB attacked The Shield, who would quickly turn the tables on them. Team Hell No came to the ring, seemingly to aid 3MB, but The Shield escaped and Team Hell No attacked 3MB instead. Over the next couple months, the group continued being used as part-timers but mostly as jobbers, while doing that on the main brand TV shows they would feud with Zack Ryder on "Superstars".