After WrestleMania, he began to feud with William Regal and Dave Taylor. The Boogeyman then joined the feud, teaming up with Kane. On the May 4 episode of "SmackDown!", Kane competed in a number one contender's match for the United States Championship against MVP. Kane lost due to interference by Regal and Taylor. On the May 25 episode of "SmackDown!", Kane competed in a fatal four-way number one contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship which was won by Batista. Kane then entered a short feud with Mark Henry, losing to him in a Lumberjack match at One Night Stand due to interference from lumberjacks Kenny Dykstra and Chavo Guerrero and then took a short hiatus. On the July 6 episode of "SmackDown!", General Manager Theodore Long announced that Kane would face Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash. After Edge was attacked and injured by Kane and the title was vacated, Batista faced Kane in a number one contender's match on the July 20 episode of "SmackDown!". During the match, new World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali interfered by attacking Batista; the match was ruled a no-contest and both men were ruled the number one contenders and were scheduled to face Khali in a triple threat match at The Great American Bash. Khali retained the title after pinning Kane for the win at The Great American Bash. Kane later teamed up with Batista on the August 18 "Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV" to defeat Khali and Finlay. Kane then entered a storyline with Finlay, which led to a match at SummerSlam, which Kane won after chokeslamming Finlay. They continued to feud, which included Kane losing to Finlay in a number one contender's tournament on the August 31 episode of "SmackDown!" after interference from Hornswoggle.