At the Crown Jewel event in November, he replaced The Miz after the latter suffered a (kayfabe) injury in the finals of the WWE World Cup, and won by defeating Dolph Ziggler in under three minutes, winning the tournament. The Miz then began a pursuit to form a tag team with Shane, who finally agreed, and the duo faced SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, winning the titles. At Elimination Chamber the following month, however, they lost the titles to The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), and failed to regain them at Fastlane, after which, McMahon attacking The Miz and taunting Miz's father, turning heel for the first time since 2009. McMahon then began proclaiming himself as the "Best in the World" and scheduled a match between himself and Miz at WrestleMania 35, which Miz requested to be a Falls Count Anywhere match, and Shane agreed. At WrestleMania, McMahon narrowly defeated Miz after being superplexed off a 15-foot platform and landing on top of Miz for the 3 counts although both men were unconscious. On the April 29 edition of "Raw", McMahon helped Bobby Lashley defeat Miz, who was drafted to Raw, and then McMahon attacked Miz. Later that night, Miz challenged McMahon to a Steel Cage Match at Money in the Bank, which Shane accepted.