Venis returned to action back in his old gimmick, at the 2002 Royal Rumble, where he entered at #20 in the Royal Rumble match but was shortly after eliminated by Stone Cold.[5][49] On Raw he had two very short feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. Perfect before being drafted to SmackDown! during the brand extension. On SmackDown!, he began calling himself "The Big Valbowski" and he aligned himself with babyfaces Edge,[5] Randy Orton,[5] Billy Kidman,[5] and Hardcore Holly[5] and feuded with Chris Jericho, Deacon Batista, and Reverend D-Von. He was soon sidelined, however, after a legitimate injury caused by gym equipment falling on him at a gym in Canada during late July 2002. After his accident, he was removed from television until doctors cleared him to return to in-ring action.[5] He returned to working SmackDown! dark matches in September 2002 and made one last televised appearance as Venis on October 26, 2002 at Rebellion, where he returned to team with Chuck Palumbo in a losing effort against Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons.[5]