The next few weeks were very difficult for the WWE. Hush was back, and with a vengeance. Through unknown ways, Hush had taken over ECW. The entire roster was now a part of Hush's stable. Even Jonathan Coachman, ECW's General Manager, was now working for Hush. In just a matter of days, Hush had magnificently staged a coup d'état on ECW. It was reminiscent of the now's takeover of WCW in the past. A week after Unforgiven they invaded RAW. They interfered with the Main Event and brawled with the RAW superstars well after the show went off the air.
On ECW the next night, they announced that Triple H and DX were officially banned from the up-coming pay-per-view, Cyber Sunday. Soon after that, they issued an open challenge to any superstar on RAW and Smackdown to an Extreme Rules match with Hush. On Smackdown, they interfered once again in the Main Event and attacked the World Heavyweight Champion. After ganging up on the champion, they took his championship belt and spray painted "ECW" on it.
Two weeks later the challenge was accepted. On Cyber Sunday, Hush faces off against Jack Dent from RAW as well as Eddy Impact from Smackdown. Despite his numerous protests, Triple H still wasn't scheduled for a match on Cyber Sunday and his name was removed from any poll posted on as well. The GMs, as it seems, had signed an official contract to not only ban Triple H and DX from Cyber Sunday, but they were banned from any ECW show as well.
The event itself was a disaster. On Cyber Sunday, the Extreme Rules match was given three stipulations for the fans to choose from. First, the winner would receive a shot at the WWE Championship on RAW. Secondly, the winner would receive a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship on Smackdown. And lastly, the winner would get a shot at the ECW Championship on ECW. The fans chose the ECW title and the match was set. The match was largely a two on one assault, with Hush at the disadvantage. But the new head of ECW wasn't about to take that lying around. Within minutes, ECW superstars came rushing to Hush's aid. The interference led to the rest of the RAW and Smackdown superstars to interfere as well. In the chaos, nobody noticed Triple H and DX arrive and attack Hush, enabling Jack Dent from RAW to pin him.
The entire ECW roster was beyond upset. But they weren't about to have a RAW superstar take their World title away. So two days after Cyber Sunday, the match was officially ruled a No Contest, due to what they called "controversial issues" and therefore, Jack Dent's shot at the ECW title was null and void.
"Henceforth, Extreme Championship Wrestling declares open war on WWE." Hush announced on ECW.
"But take note, I will allow a match to take place on Survivor Series. Me and four of my most trusted stable mates are issuing a challenge to D-Generation X. But as punishment for their involvement at Cyber Sunday, I will suspend two of their members and ban them from ringside. Good luck finding new members in time."
DX was quick to recruit Triple H immediately to their cause. But a fifth and final member was harder to acquire. Hush was issuing challenges all over the three brands. Survivor Series now had several inter-brand matches added to the card within a few days and the entire company was in turmoil.
Two weeks before Survivor Series, DX was getting desperate. Absolutely no one would join their team, and anybody who did quickly found themselves targets of Hush and ECW.
"This is absolute bullshit!" Jason Teague yelled, as they watched another superstar carried away on a stretcher, "This isn't fair! We're gonna be dead when Survivor Series comes around."
"No, we're not. We're just not looking in the right places." Triple H replied.
Jason sighed and punched the wall. It's been a tough week. Two superstars came to them and practically begged to be a part of their team. Within an hour, one of them was found bleeding in a boiler room whilst the other suffered a concussion two days later at a house show. Hush had spies even on RAW.
"What are we gonna do?! Survivor series is in two weeks!" Jason continued to yell.
"It's not over yet. We can still--"
"Everyone we turn to gets jumped from behind! This place is a war zone. Compared to Hush, Orton seems like a pretty decent guy right about now!"
"Yeah, too bad we can't recruit him." Triple H said sarcastically.
"Isn't there anyone? Anyone at all that isn't in a hospital that we can turn to?" Kyle Robins said.
"Jack's suspended, Davey is involved in that Triple threat, and if I recall, David Flair is leading a team of his own into Survivor Series, so he's no help to us." Kenny replied.
"What about Cena?" Jason said to Triple H.
"What about him?" Triple H replied.
"Can't you talk to him or something? He's your friend! He can help!"
"These days, the only thoughts in Cena's mind are retirement and movies. The guy is a spent force and I doubt we could get to him in time."
"You know, there was a time when John Cena was a true locker room leader," Kenny said, "I remember watching him as a kid. He was so full of life. When me and Kyle were starting out, the first one to show us the ropes was Cena. Are all old-timers that disgruntled nowadays?" He said to Triple H.
Triple H shot him a dirty look. He took out his Cell phone and began scanning through the names on his address book. The names of Legends and Hall of Famers immediately began flashing. Mark Callaway, Ric Flair, David Bautista, Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels. Triple H looked up.
"Shawn…" He muttered to himself.
"What did you say?" Jason asked.
"Shawn Michaels. Why didn't I think of it sooner?" Triple H said.
He called Shawn on his cell phone. Shawn didn't respond. As Smackdown went off the air, Triple H rushed to his hotel room and dialed the phone. He spent the next three hours on the phone, calling Shawn repeatedly, although his calls remained unanswered.
"C'mon, Shawn! Pick up the goddamn phone!" He said to himself.
He called for a few more minutes before calling it a night. Shawn wasn't home. And if he was, he was probably too hung over to pick up the phone. Triple H turned off his lights and went to bed. Just as he was about to doze off, his cell phone received a text message. It was from Shawn.
"Can't talk. Come to San Antonio. Rebecca's anniversary tomorrow. I'd really appreciate it." Triple H read out loud.
Of course! How could he be so insensitive? Tomorrow was the third anniversary of Rebecca Hickenbottom's passing. She was Shawn's wife. After she died, Shawn simply fell apart. The job of recruiting him just became harder.