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Unforgiven (2005)
Encyclopedia
Unforgiven was a professional wrestling
pay-per-view
(PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE). It was the seventh annual Unforgiven
event and took place on September 18, 2005 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City
, Oklahoma
. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the Raw
program.
The main event was a standard wrestling match, in which Kurt Angle
defeated WWE Champion
John Cena
, after Cena intentionally disqualified himself. In WWE, a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification, as a result, Cena retained the title. Two featured bouts on the undercard was another standard match, in which Shawn Michaels
defeated Chris Masters
. The other primary match was a steel cage match, where the ring is enclosed by a steel cage, in which Matt Hardy
defeated Edge.
Unforgiven grossed over $485,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 8,000, and received about 243,000 pay-per-view buys. This amount was higher than the following year's event
. When the event was released on DVD
, it reached a peak position of third on Billboard
s DVD Sales Chart.
were scheduled on the event's card
beforehand, which were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's script writers. The buildup to these matches and scenarios that took place before, during and after the event were also planned by the script writers. The event featured wrestlers and other talent from Raw's brand – a storyline expansion
in which WWE assigned its employees. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous
or fan favorite
gimmick, as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match.
The main rivalry
written into Unforgiven was between John Cena
and Kurt Angle
, who were competing for Cena's WWE Championship
. At SummerSlam
, Cena defeated Chris Jericho
to retain the WWE Championship. A rematch was held on the August 22 episode of Raw
, one of WWE's primary television programs, when authority figure Eric Bischoff
, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced a match between Cena and Jericho in a "You're Fired" match, in which the loser would be fired. The match saw Cena win, and Bischoff was scripted to fire a pleading Jericho, who was carried out of the arena by security. This angle was written after WWE's official website confirmed that Jericho signed a short-term contract extension to stay with the company after his long-term contract expired, which presumably ended after his loss to Cena. Kurt Angle came down to the ring and attacked Cena by lifting Cena on his shoulders and spinning 90° to slam him down to the mat, a move Angle calls the Angle Slam. As Cena was down, Bischoff announced that Angle was the new contender for the WWE Championship, claiming that Jericho "couldn't get the job done". Angle continued his attacks on Cena before their scheduled match at Unforgiven. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Cena was scheduled in a Handicap match, a match where one wrestler or team of wrestlers face off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. He faced Tyson Tomko
and Angle. Cena won the match by pinning Tomko after lifting Tomko onto his shoulders and slamming him down to the mat. Afterwards, Angle assaulted Cena, which led to Angle being scripted to smash Cena's ankle across the ring post, thus giving Angle the advantage heading into Unforgiven.
Another major rivalry heading into the event was between Shawn Michaels
and Chris Masters
. This feud began the night after SummerSlam, where Michaels lost a match to Hulk Hogan
. Michaels admitted he fell victim to Hogan's leg drop, a move where Hogan drops his legs across the opponent's head or chest. He concluded that Hogan was the better man and it was time to get "back to reality". Mid-way through Michaels' speech, Masters interrupted him and informed Michaels that individuals like Hogan and Michaels did not know how to pass the torch to new wrestlers. Michaels went along with Masters' comments and warned Masters to not group him with Hogan. Masters concluded by stating that he was not "trying" to steal the spotlight from Michaels, but that he was going to "take it". Michaels responded by saying that he knew where Masters was coming from, which led to Michaels slapping Masters. The two then brawled, thus turning Michaels into an on-screen hero
, as he had been a villain
in rivalry between Hogan. On the September 5 episode of Raw, Michaels was involved in the Masterlock Challenge, a challenge where the wrestler must break free from Master's full Nelson submission hold, which he calls the Master Lock. Despite Michaels' best efforts, he could not break free. Upset at the vigorous resistance of Michaels, Masters released the hold and hit Michaels with a steel chair before re-applying the hold. The following week, Michaels issued a challenge to Masters at Unforgiven, in which he vowed to get revenge on Masters for his actions the previous week.
The other predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Matt Hardy
and Edge, a real life issue transformed into a storyline. At SummerSlam, Edge defeated Hardy after dropping him onto the top of a ring post. This was scripted to caused Hardy to bleed heavily, which forced the referee to end the match and declare Edge the winner because Hardy could not continue. The next night on Raw, Hardy had a match with Rob Conway, in which Conway pinned Hardy for the win. After the match, Edge attacked Hardy. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Edge and Hardy were scheduled to compete in a Street Fight, a match where there are no disqualifications, no countouts, and scoring conditions can occur anywhere in the arena. The match ended in a no-contest after Hardy and Edge brawled at the stage ramp. Hardy grabbed Edge by the side and threw both himself and Edge off the stage and into electrical equipment. Both Hardy and Edge laid motionless on the floor as sparks flew everywhere. Trainers and emergency medical technician
s rushed to the scene and took both men away in ambulances for medical attention. The following week, Bischoff booked Hardy and Edge in a steel cage match at Unforgiven, where the ring would be enclosed by a steel cage. Following the announcement, Bischoff scheduled a match between Hardy and Snitsky
, which Hardy lost. After the match, Snitsky threatened to hit Hardy with a ring bell but The Big Show
came down. He was unable to stop Snistky, and as a result, Snitsky succeeded in hitting Hardy with the bell.
, Rob Conway defeated Tajiri
in a match taped for Heat
, one of WWE's secondary television programs.
The first televised match was a standard wrestling match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
, which involved the champion Carlito and challenger Ric Flair
. The match began with Flair taking down Carlito with a series of headlock takeovers. Carlito was able to hit Flair with his forearm, but Flair brought Carlito down by lifting him from behind and dropping him on his legs. Flair went for the figure four leglock, a move where a wrestler stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat face up and grasps a leg of the opponent, thus applying pressure into the crossed legs with his own, but Carlito reversed it. After back and forth action between the two, Flair took the advantage and applied the figure four leglock on Carlito, thus making him submit. Which resulted in Flair becoming the new Intercontinental Champion.
The next match was a tag team
match featuring the team of Trish Stratus
and Ashley
against the team of Victoria
and Torrie Wilson
(with Candice Michelle
) as Victoria and Wilson's manager
). The match started off with Wilson and Stratus in the ring. Wilson tagged in Victoria, who applied a full-body choke on Stratus, but Stratus started to work on Victoria's arm. Victoria countered Stratus' arm takedown. Stratus then performed a takedown by scissoring Victoria's head with her legs and forcefully dragging her down to the mat. Back and forth action took place; the match, however, came to an end when Stratus was able to perform a roundhouse kick
on Victoria, giving the pinfall victory to Stratus and Ashley.
The third match was a standard match between The Big Show and Snitsky. The match began with Big Show and Snitsky brawling as the bell rang. Big Show was able to perform a big slap to the chest and headbutt. Snitsky then took the upper hand over Big Show, as he applied an armbar hold, after countering a chokeslam
, a move where The Big Show lifts the opponent by the throat and slams them down to the mat. Big Show then made a comeback when he lifted Snitsky by the waist and slammed him down to the mat. Big Show then got the victory after a successful chokeslam.
The next match was another standard match involving Shelton Benjamin
and Kerwin White
. White tried to get in the ring, but Benjamin slid out and tripped him. Benjamin threw White into the ring barricade, which led him to throw him back in the ring as the bell rang to officially start the match. In the ring, Benjamin lifted and slammed White to the mat, which followed by a running foearm. White retaliated with a dropkick
to Benjamin's knee. The match concluded after White grabbed a golf club that he hid in the steel steps and tried to assault Benjamin with it. Benjamin, however, countered by throwing White up in the air and catching him by slamming him down to the mat. Benjamin covered White and got the pinfall victory.
The fifth match was a Steel Cage match contested between Matt Hardy and Edge, who was accompanied by Lita
. As the bell rang, Hardy tried to throw Edge face-first into the cage wall but did not succeed. Back and forth action took place until Hardy got the advantage over Edge. Lita began to climb up the outside of the cage, but Hardy hit the cage, making Lita fall off. As Lita distracted Hardy, Edge started to crawl out. Hardy noticed this, grabbed Edge, and threw him into a corner. Lita interfered, which led to Hardy grabbing Lita's head in a forward position and forcefully pulling it down over his shoulders. Hardy got to the top of the cage and delivered a leg drop before covering Edge for the victory.
The next match was Rosey and The Hurricane taking on Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championship. The match started with Hurricane and Cade locked up, a term used to describe grappling
. Cade managed to gain the advantage over Hurricane with some fists. During the match, Murdoch drove Hurricane's head into the floor on the outside of the ring. WWE Medical trainers came to ringside to check on Hurricane. The match concluded when Cade pinned the legitimately injured Hurricane, to win the World Tag Team Championship.
The seventh match was a standard match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters. The match started with Masters applying the Masterlock on Michaels. After breaking the hold, Michaels hit Masters with his forearm and slapped his chest several times. Masters, however, dominated Michaels, focusing on his back by lifting and sitting Michaels onto his shoulders and slamming him
down to the mat several times. He also lifted Michaels vertically in the air and stalled him there before slamming him down. Michaels fought back, as he drove his cocked elbow onto Masters' chest. Masters was able to lock in the Masterlock once more. Michaels tried to use the corners to break the hold, but Masters kept it locked on. Michaels then leaped over the top rope and landed on the ring apron, causing the referee to order Masters to break the hold. Michaels countered with a superkick, which saw the sole of his foot strike Masters' chin, a move in which Michaels calls Sweet Chin Music. Michaels got the pinfall victory over Masters.
The main event was between John Cena and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. The match began with Angle and Cena locking up, leading to Angle taking Cena down with a headlock takeover. Cena countered many attacks by Angle and was able to reverse the ankle lock. Cena tried to lift Angle onto his shoulders to slam him down to the mat, but Angle reversed it and lifted Cena on his shoulders and spun 90° to slam him down. Eric Bischoff came down the ramp and cheered for Angle, who had the Ankle Lock applied on Cena. Cena rolled out of the move, grabbed the championship belt, which Bischoff had brought with him, and hit Angle with it. The referee saw this and called for the bell. As a result, Cena was disqualified for hitting Angle with the championship, ultimately resulting in him retaining his title.
. Bischoff was scripted to promote three series of qualifying matches, in which the winner would receive a spot on the ballot as a potential challenger to join Cena and Angle. The winners were The Big Show, Shawn Michaels and Kane. The following week, a Triple Threat match was scheduled between Big Show, Michaels and Kane. Michaels won the match after he hit both Big Show and Kane with a superkick and pinned Big Show for the win. The following week, Bischoff announced a match between Cena and Michaels. Late in the match, Angle attacked both Cena and Michaels. Cena, however, retaliated and got Angle up for an FU, but Michaels managed to hit Cena with a superkick. At Taboo Tuesday, Michaels won the fans' choice to join Cena and Angle in the championship match. Cena, however, defeated Michaels and Angle to retain the WWE Championship, after pinning Shawn Michaels.
Triple H
returned on the October 3 episode of Raw, WWE Homecoming, after a four month hiatus. He took part in a match, teaming up with Ric Flair, who was a fan favorite during Triple H's absence, to take on Chris Masters and Carlito. The duo defeated Masters and Carlito; after the match, Triple H turned on Flair and hit him with a sledgehammer
. This led to a rivalry between Triple H and Flair. At Taboo Tuesday, Triple H and Flair met in a steel cage match, a stipulation chosen by the fans, for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The match saw Flair retain the Intercontinental Championship, after escaping through the cage door.
The rivalry between Matt Hardy and Edge continued and culminated in a "Loser Leaves Raw Ladder match", where the objective was to reach a briefcase suspended in the air using a ladder, at WWE Homecoming, which Edge won. As a result, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand.
's professional wrestling section rated the entire event a 6 out of 10 stars. The rating was lower than the Unforgiven event in 2006
, which rated 7 out of 10 stars. The steel cage match was rated a 7 out of 10 stars, as well as the Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters' match. The divas tag team match and the singles match between Big Show and Snitsky, were rated 3 out of 10 stars each.
The event was released on DVD
by Sony Music Entertainment
on October 25, 2005. The DVD reached third on Billboard
's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of November 19, 2005, although falling thereafter. It remained in the chart for two consecutive weeks, until the week of December 3, 2005, when it ranked seventh.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
(PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE). It was the seventh annual Unforgiven
WWE Unforgiven
Unforgiven was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, which had been held in September since the 1999 edition. It originally started out as a In Your House pay-per-view event in April and featured the infamous Inferno match between The...
event and took place on September 18, 2005 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
program.
The main event was a standard wrestling match, in which Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
defeated WWE Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
, after Cena intentionally disqualified himself. In WWE, a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification, as a result, Cena retained the title. Two featured bouts on the undercard was another standard match, in which Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
defeated Chris Masters
Chris Masters
Christopher Todd Mordetzky is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Chris Masters. He is best known for his tenure with WWE.-Early career:...
. The other primary match was a steel cage match, where the ring is enclosed by a steel cage, in which Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
defeated Edge.
Unforgiven grossed over $485,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 8,000, and received about 243,000 pay-per-view buys. This amount was higher than the following year's event
Unforgiven (2006)
Unforgiven was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on September 17, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It was the eighth annual Unforgiven event. The show's seven matches showcased prominent WWE wrestlers, who...
. When the event was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, it reached a peak position of third on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s DVD Sales Chart.
Background
Eight professional wrestling matchesMock combat
Mock combat involves the execution of combative actions without intent to harm. Participants can engage in such sparring for ritual, training, recreational or performance reasons...
were scheduled on the event's card
Card (sports)
In sports, a card comprises a listing of the matches taking place in a title-match combat-sport event. Organizers divide overall cards into a main-event match and the undercard, which encompasses the rest of the matches. One can also further subdivide the undercard into midcard and lower card,...
beforehand, which were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's script writers. The buildup to these matches and scenarios that took place before, during and after the event were also planned by the script writers. The event featured wrestlers and other talent from Raw's brand – a storyline expansion
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
in which WWE assigned its employees. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
or fan favorite
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
gimmick, as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match.
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
written into Unforgiven was between John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
and Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
, who were competing for Cena's WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
. At SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2005)
SummerSlam was the eighteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on August 21, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C...
, Cena defeated Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
to retain the WWE Championship. A rematch was held on the August 22 episode of Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, one of WWE's primary television programs, when authority figure Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced a match between Cena and Jericho in a "You're Fired" match, in which the loser would be fired. The match saw Cena win, and Bischoff was scripted to fire a pleading Jericho, who was carried out of the arena by security. This angle was written after WWE's official website confirmed that Jericho signed a short-term contract extension to stay with the company after his long-term contract expired, which presumably ended after his loss to Cena. Kurt Angle came down to the ring and attacked Cena by lifting Cena on his shoulders and spinning 90° to slam him down to the mat, a move Angle calls the Angle Slam. As Cena was down, Bischoff announced that Angle was the new contender for the WWE Championship, claiming that Jericho "couldn't get the job done". Angle continued his attacks on Cena before their scheduled match at Unforgiven. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Cena was scheduled in a Handicap match, a match where one wrestler or team of wrestlers face off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. He faced Tyson Tomko
Travis Tomko
Travis David Tomko is an American professional wrestler, known by his ring name Tomko, who most recently worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he previously was a member of Christian's Coalition and the Angle Alliance and often worked alongside A.J. Styles. He was also notable for his...
and Angle. Cena won the match by pinning Tomko after lifting Tomko onto his shoulders and slamming him down to the mat. Afterwards, Angle assaulted Cena, which led to Angle being scripted to smash Cena's ankle across the ring post, thus giving Angle the advantage heading into Unforgiven.
Another major rivalry heading into the event was between Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
and Chris Masters
Chris Masters
Christopher Todd Mordetzky is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Chris Masters. He is best known for his tenure with WWE.-Early career:...
. This feud began the night after SummerSlam, where Michaels lost a match to Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
. Michaels admitted he fell victim to Hogan's leg drop, a move where Hogan drops his legs across the opponent's head or chest. He concluded that Hogan was the better man and it was time to get "back to reality". Mid-way through Michaels' speech, Masters interrupted him and informed Michaels that individuals like Hogan and Michaels did not know how to pass the torch to new wrestlers. Michaels went along with Masters' comments and warned Masters to not group him with Hogan. Masters concluded by stating that he was not "trying" to steal the spotlight from Michaels, but that he was going to "take it". Michaels responded by saying that he knew where Masters was coming from, which led to Michaels slapping Masters. The two then brawled, thus turning Michaels into an on-screen hero
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
, as he had been a villain
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
in rivalry between Hogan. On the September 5 episode of Raw, Michaels was involved in the Masterlock Challenge, a challenge where the wrestler must break free from Master's full Nelson submission hold, which he calls the Master Lock. Despite Michaels' best efforts, he could not break free. Upset at the vigorous resistance of Michaels, Masters released the hold and hit Michaels with a steel chair before re-applying the hold. The following week, Michaels issued a challenge to Masters at Unforgiven, in which he vowed to get revenge on Masters for his actions the previous week.
Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
and Edge, a real life issue transformed into a storyline. At SummerSlam, Edge defeated Hardy after dropping him onto the top of a ring post. This was scripted to caused Hardy to bleed heavily, which forced the referee to end the match and declare Edge the winner because Hardy could not continue. The next night on Raw, Hardy had a match with Rob Conway, in which Conway pinned Hardy for the win. After the match, Edge attacked Hardy. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Edge and Hardy were scheduled to compete in a Street Fight, a match where there are no disqualifications, no countouts, and scoring conditions can occur anywhere in the arena. The match ended in a no-contest after Hardy and Edge brawled at the stage ramp. Hardy grabbed Edge by the side and threw both himself and Edge off the stage and into electrical equipment. Both Hardy and Edge laid motionless on the floor as sparks flew everywhere. Trainers and emergency medical technician
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
s rushed to the scene and took both men away in ambulances for medical attention. The following week, Bischoff booked Hardy and Edge in a steel cage match at Unforgiven, where the ring would be enclosed by a steel cage. Following the announcement, Bischoff scheduled a match between Hardy and Snitsky
Gene Snitsky
Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with World Wrestling Entertainment. He had played college football at the University of Missouri and was on the pre-season roster in 1995 for the Birmingham Barracudas...
, which Hardy lost. After the match, Snitsky threatened to hit Hardy with a ring bell but The Big Show
Paul Wight
Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....
came down. He was unable to stop Snistky, and as a result, Snitsky succeeded in hitting Hardy with the bell.
Event
Before the event went live on pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
, Rob Conway defeated Tajiri
Yoshihiro Tajiri
, is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently competing in SMASH as TAJIRI.-Early years :...
in a match taped for Heat
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
, one of WWE's secondary television programs.
Preliminary matches
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
, which involved the champion Carlito and challenger Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
. The match began with Flair taking down Carlito with a series of headlock takeovers. Carlito was able to hit Flair with his forearm, but Flair brought Carlito down by lifting him from behind and dropping him on his legs. Flair went for the figure four leglock, a move where a wrestler stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat face up and grasps a leg of the opponent, thus applying pressure into the crossed legs with his own, but Carlito reversed it. After back and forth action between the two, Flair took the advantage and applied the figure four leglock on Carlito, thus making him submit. Which resulted in Flair becoming the new Intercontinental Champion.
The next match was a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
match featuring the team of Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigias , better known by her ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and television personality currently signed with WWE. She is also a former fitness model....
and Ashley
Ashley Massaro
Ashley Marie Massaro is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to World Independent Ladies Division Wrestling. She is best known for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment and her appearance on Survivor: China....
against the team of Victoria
Lisa Marie Varon
Lisa Marie Varon , is an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and fitness competitor of Puerto Rican and Turkish descent...
and Torrie Wilson
Torrie Wilson
Torrie Anne Wilson is a retired American professional wrestler, fitness competitor and model. She is best known for her tenures in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment , where she worked on both their SmackDown and Raw brands throughout her eight-year run.As a fitness...
(with Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich better known as Candice Michelle or just Candice, is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment....
) as Victoria and Wilson's manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
). The match started off with Wilson and Stratus in the ring. Wilson tagged in Victoria, who applied a full-body choke on Stratus, but Stratus started to work on Victoria's arm. Victoria countered Stratus' arm takedown. Stratus then performed a takedown by scissoring Victoria's head with her legs and forcefully dragging her down to the mat. Back and forth action took place; the match, however, came to an end when Stratus was able to perform a roundhouse kick
Roundhouse kick
A roundhouse kick is a kick in which the attacker swings his leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the leg or foot. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions...
on Victoria, giving the pinfall victory to Stratus and Ashley.
The third match was a standard match between The Big Show and Snitsky. The match began with Big Show and Snitsky brawling as the bell rang. Big Show was able to perform a big slap to the chest and headbutt. Snitsky then took the upper hand over Big Show, as he applied an armbar hold, after countering a chokeslam
Chokeslam
A chokeslam refers to a type of body slam in professional wrestling in which the wrestler grasps their opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerful on camera...
, a move where The Big Show lifts the opponent by the throat and slams them down to the mat. Big Show then made a comeback when he lifted Snitsky by the waist and slammed him down to the mat. Big Show then got the victory after a successful chokeslam.
The next match was another standard match involving Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted...
and Kerwin White
Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling...
. White tried to get in the ring, but Benjamin slid out and tripped him. Benjamin threw White into the ring barricade, which led him to throw him back in the ring as the bell rang to officially start the match. In the ring, Benjamin lifted and slammed White to the mat, which followed by a running foearm. White retaliated with a dropkick
Dropkick
A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
to Benjamin's knee. The match concluded after White grabbed a golf club that he hid in the steel steps and tried to assault Benjamin with it. Benjamin, however, countered by throwing White up in the air and catching him by slamming him down to the mat. Benjamin covered White and got the pinfall victory.
The fifth match was a Steel Cage match contested between Matt Hardy and Edge, who was accompanied by Lita
Amy Dumas
Amy Christine Dumas , known by her primary stage name Lita, is the lead singer for the band The Luchagors as well as a retired professional wrestler and WWE Diva active from 1999 to 2006....
. As the bell rang, Hardy tried to throw Edge face-first into the cage wall but did not succeed. Back and forth action took place until Hardy got the advantage over Edge. Lita began to climb up the outside of the cage, but Hardy hit the cage, making Lita fall off. As Lita distracted Hardy, Edge started to crawl out. Hardy noticed this, grabbed Edge, and threw him into a corner. Lita interfered, which led to Hardy grabbing Lita's head in a forward position and forcefully pulling it down over his shoulders. Hardy got to the top of the cage and delivered a leg drop before covering Edge for the victory.
Main event matches
Grappling
Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...
. Cade managed to gain the advantage over Hurricane with some fists. During the match, Murdoch drove Hurricane's head into the floor on the outside of the ring. WWE Medical trainers came to ringside to check on Hurricane. The match concluded when Cade pinned the legitimately injured Hurricane, to win the World Tag Team Championship.
The seventh match was a standard match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters. The match started with Masters applying the Masterlock on Michaels. After breaking the hold, Michaels hit Masters with his forearm and slapped his chest several times. Masters, however, dominated Michaels, focusing on his back by lifting and sitting Michaels onto his shoulders and slamming him
Powerbomb
A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted up and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a standing headscissors position...
down to the mat several times. He also lifted Michaels vertically in the air and stalled him there before slamming him down. Michaels fought back, as he drove his cocked elbow onto Masters' chest. Masters was able to lock in the Masterlock once more. Michaels tried to use the corners to break the hold, but Masters kept it locked on. Michaels then leaped over the top rope and landed on the ring apron, causing the referee to order Masters to break the hold. Michaels countered with a superkick, which saw the sole of his foot strike Masters' chin, a move in which Michaels calls Sweet Chin Music. Michaels got the pinfall victory over Masters.
The main event was between John Cena and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. The match began with Angle and Cena locking up, leading to Angle taking Cena down with a headlock takeover. Cena countered many attacks by Angle and was able to reverse the ankle lock. Cena tried to lift Angle onto his shoulders to slam him down to the mat, but Angle reversed it and lifted Cena on his shoulders and spun 90° to slam him down. Eric Bischoff came down the ramp and cheered for Angle, who had the Ankle Lock applied on Cena. Cena rolled out of the move, grabbed the championship belt, which Bischoff had brought with him, and hit Angle with it. The referee saw this and called for the bell. As a result, Cena was disqualified for hitting Angle with the championship, ultimately resulting in him retaining his title.
Aftermath
The feud between John Cena and Kurt Angle, with the involvement of Eric Bischoff, continued. During Raw episodes, it saw Angle and Bischoff interfere in Cena's matches, and even deciding the outcome of Cena's matches. On the October 17 episode of Raw, Bischoff announced that a standard match involving three wrestlers, termed as the Triple Threat match, for the WWE Championship, would take place between Cena, Angle and the fans' choice at Taboo TuesdayTaboo Tuesday (2005)
Taboo Tuesday was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on November 1, 2005 at the iPayOne Center in San Diego, California. It was the second annual Taboo Tuesday event in which the fans were given the chance to vote on...
. Bischoff was scripted to promote three series of qualifying matches, in which the winner would receive a spot on the ballot as a potential challenger to join Cena and Angle. The winners were The Big Show, Shawn Michaels and Kane. The following week, a Triple Threat match was scheduled between Big Show, Michaels and Kane. Michaels won the match after he hit both Big Show and Kane with a superkick and pinned Big Show for the win. The following week, Bischoff announced a match between Cena and Michaels. Late in the match, Angle attacked both Cena and Michaels. Cena, however, retaliated and got Angle up for an FU, but Michaels managed to hit Cena with a superkick. At Taboo Tuesday, Michaels won the fans' choice to join Cena and Angle in the championship match. Cena, however, defeated Michaels and Angle to retain the WWE Championship, after pinning Shawn Michaels.
Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
returned on the October 3 episode of Raw, WWE Homecoming, after a four month hiatus. He took part in a match, teaming up with Ric Flair, who was a fan favorite during Triple H's absence, to take on Chris Masters and Carlito. The duo defeated Masters and Carlito; after the match, Triple H turned on Flair and hit him with a sledgehammer
Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is a tool consisting of a large, flat head attached to a lever . The head is typically made of metal. The sledgehammer can apply more impulse than other hammers, due to its large size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area...
. This led to a rivalry between Triple H and Flair. At Taboo Tuesday, Triple H and Flair met in a steel cage match, a stipulation chosen by the fans, for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The match saw Flair retain the Intercontinental Championship, after escaping through the cage door.
The rivalry between Matt Hardy and Edge continued and culminated in a "Loser Leaves Raw Ladder match", where the objective was to reach a briefcase suspended in the air using a ladder, at WWE Homecoming, which Edge won. As a result, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand.
Reception
The Ford Center has a maximum capacity of 19,599. The event grossed over $485,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 8,000. The promotion's pay-per-view revenue was $185 million. Canadian Online ExplorerCanadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...
's professional wrestling section rated the entire event a 6 out of 10 stars. The rating was lower than the Unforgiven event in 2006
Unforgiven (2006)
Unforgiven was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on September 17, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It was the eighth annual Unforgiven event. The show's seven matches showcased prominent WWE wrestlers, who...
, which rated 7 out of 10 stars. The steel cage match was rated a 7 out of 10 stars, as well as the Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters' match. The divas tag team match and the singles match between Big Show and Snitsky, were rated 3 out of 10 stars each.
The event was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
on October 25, 2005. The DVD reached third on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of November 19, 2005, although falling thereafter. It remained in the chart for two consecutive weeks, until the week of December 3, 2005, when it ranked seventh.
Results
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Conway defeated Tajiri Yoshihiro Tajiri , is a Japanese professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is currently competing in SMASH as TAJIRI.-Early years :... . |
Singles match | 03:44 | |
| 1 | Ric Flair Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world.... defeated Carlito (c) |
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand... |
11:46 |
| 2 | Trish Stratus Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigias , better known by her ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and television personality currently signed with WWE. She is also a former fitness model.... and Ashley Massaro Ashley Massaro Ashley Marie Massaro is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to World Independent Ladies Division Wrestling. She is best known for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment and her appearance on Survivor: China.... defeated The Ladies in Pink Vince's Devils Vince's Devils was a villainous alliance of female professional wrestlers in World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand. It consisted of Divas Candice Michelle, Victoria and Torrie Wilson. The three women formed their alliance in August 2005 after Wilson and Candice Michelle were traded to Raw... (Victoria Lisa Marie Varon Lisa Marie Varon , is an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and fitness competitor of Puerto Rican and Turkish descent... and Torrie Wilson Torrie Wilson Torrie Anne Wilson is a retired American professional wrestler, fitness competitor and model. She is best known for her tenures in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment , where she worked on both their SmackDown and Raw brands throughout her eight-year run.As a fitness... ) (with Candice Michelle Candice Michelle Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich better known as Candice Michelle or just Candice, is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment.... ) |
Tag team match | 07:05 |
| 3 | The Big Show Paul Wight Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand.... defeated Snitsky Gene Snitsky Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with World Wrestling Entertainment. He had played college football at the University of Missouri and was on the pre-season roster in 1995 for the Birmingham Barracudas... |
Singles match | 06:11 |
| 4 | Shelton Benjamin Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted... defeated Kerwin White Chavo Guerrero, Jr. Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling... |
Singles match | 08:06 |
| 5 | Matt Hardy Matt Hardy Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .... defeated Edge (with Lita Amy Dumas Amy Christine Dumas , known by her primary stage name Lita, is the lead singer for the band The Luchagors as well as a retired professional wrestler and WWE Diva active from 1999 to 2006.... ) |
Steel cage match | 21:33 |
| 6 | Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeated Rosey and The Hurricane (c) | Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship | 07:40 |
| 7 | Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December... defeated Chris Masters Chris Masters Christopher Todd Mordetzky is an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Chris Masters. He is best known for his tenure with WWE.-Early career:... |
Singles match | 16:44 |
| 8 | Kurt Angle Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion... defeated John Cena John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand.... (c) by disqualification |
Singles match for the WWE Championship WWE Championship The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963... |
17:15 |