On June 30, 1997, he defeated Rockabilly at a "Raw is War" event in Des Moines, Iowa. His TV debut came two weeks later on the July 14, 1997, episode of "Raw" and feuded with Bret Hart. The premise of this feud was that Hart had just started his anti-American Hart Foundation, and the Patriot was, as the name implied, a man who stood up for the United States of America. He wore a mask with American stars and stripes and carried the U.S. flag (using a patriotic entry theme that would casually be used for the wrestler Kurt Angle a few years later). He defeated Hart on television in a match on July 28, 1997, after interference from Shawn Michaels. On August 11, 1997, Patriot teamed with Ken Shamrock to wrestle the team of The British Bulldog and Owen Hart, The Patriot pinned The British Bulldog for the win. Wilkes went on to challenge Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at ' where Hart forced him to submit with the Sharpshooter. At One Night Only, Wilkes defeated Flash Funk. At ', Wilkes teamed with Vader against the Hart Foundation's Bret Hart and The British Bulldog, but lost the match. Following Badd Blood, Patriot was scheduled to team with Vader, Goldust, and Marc Mero as part of Team USA at "Survivor Series 1997" but suffered a torn triceps weeks earlier, he was replaced by Steve Blackman. Wilkes competed in his final televised WWF match on the November 1, 1997, episode of WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (taped on October 21) where he lost to Jim Neidhart by disqualification. He was released in early 1998.