on the february 27 "raw", ziggler and swagger unsuccessfully challenged primo & epico for the wwe tag team championship in a triple threat tag team match, also involving kofi kingston and r-truth. on the march 19 "raw", ziggler and swagger were announced as the newest members of team johnny for the 12-man tag team match at wrestlemania xxviii and on the april 2 "raw", ziggler and swagger unsuccessfully challenged santino marella for the united states championship in a triple threat match. after the match, ziggler began a feud with brodus clay, who attacked ziggler with a headbutt after he and swagger tried to attack marella. on the following episode of "raw", ziggler and swagger were defeated by clay and marella in a tag team match. in the following weeks, ziggler and swagger lost to clay and hornswoggle in singles and tag matches. at extreme rules, ziggler was again defeated by clay. in may, ziggler and swagger unsuccessfully challenged kofi kingston and r-truth for wwe tag team championship, first at over the limit and second on the may 28 episode of "raw", resulting in ziggler showing signs of wanting to break away from guerrero and swagger.