On the February 26, 2019 episode of "SmackDown Live", Owens made his return as a face, replacing Kofi Kingston in the WWE Championship match at Fastlane against Daniel Bryan, per Vince McMahon's orders. At the pay-per view, a returning Mustafa Ali was added to the match, thus making it a triple threat match, and Owens failed to win the title after Bryan pinned Ali. After WrestleMania 35, Owens started a storyline, where he congratulated Kofi Kingston for winning the WWE Championship and joined The New Day as their honorary third member, since Big E was recovering from an injury. However, since Daniel Bryan suffered an injury at WrestleMania, SmackDown needed a top level heel, so on the April 23 episode of "SmackDown Live", Owens turned on Kingston and attacked him and Xavier Woods, proclaiming that he wanted the WWE Championship, thus turning him back into a heel. Owens challenged Kingston for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank, but lost. At Stomping Grounds, Owens teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat Big E and Xavier Woods.