On the May 11, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, a vignette aired suggesting that Ray Gordy would be repackaged as "Jesse Dalton" as part of a tag team using a hillbilly gimmick, alongside fellow WWE developmental talent Drew Hankinson (formerly "The Imposter Kane") who was repackaged as "Festus Dalton".

On the June 29, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, vignettes hyping Jesse and Festus's return to the roster, sans the Dalton name (and no longer presented as brothers), began to air.

Jesse and Festus defeated their first notable opponents, the team of Elijah Burke and Nunzio, with the Rocket Launcher.

[4] On the November 9 episode of SmackDown!, Jesse and Festus suffered their first WWE loss in a 10-man tag team battle royal WWE Tag Team Championship contender's match, against Deuce 'n Domino, The Major Brothers, Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang, and Drew McIntyre and Dave Taylor.

[5] Jesse and Festus suffered their second loss in the WWE when they were defeated by then-WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and the Miz on the November 27 episode of ECW.

After a brief hiatus, more vignettes aired, this time featuring Jesse, who explained Festus's condition and spoke of a cure for it.

Drew Hankinson was also released from his WWE contract six months later with several other superstars, only to eventually return in 2016 with new tag team partner Karl Anderson.