Shelton Benjamin
Hardy declared himself as a fighting champion that would take on all challenges, defending the United States championship against Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Chuck Palumbo, Mr. Kennedy, Chavo Guerrero and Umaga. Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of "Raw" during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. He dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.