Background in
Los Angeles,
California.
Unforgiven was first held by
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as the
21st In Your House pay-per-view (PPV) in April 1998. Following the discontinuation of the
In Your House series in February 1999, Unforgiven branched off as its own PPV in September that year, becoming WWE's annual September PPV. The 2002 event was the fifth event in the Unforgiven chronology and took place on September 22 at the
Staples Center in
Los Angeles,
California. It was also the first held under the WWE name, as the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May. It was also the first Unforgiven held during the first
brand extension that was introduced in March, a storyline subdivision in which the promotion divided its roster into two separate brands,
Raw and
SmackDown!, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. The 2002 event in turn featured wrestlers from both brands. The main
feud heading into Unforgiven on the SmackDown!
brand was between
The Undertaker and
Brock Lesnar, with the two feuding over the
WWE Championship. On the August 29 episode of
SmackDown!, as Lesnar became exclusive to the SmackDown! brand, SmackDown! General Manager
Stephanie McMahon made a single elimination series of matches to declare the number one contender for the championship.
Kurt Angle and
Chris Benoit made it to the final, however, McMahon inserted The Undertaker in the match, which he then won. Lesnar and The Undertaker had their first confrontation on the September 5 episode of
SmackDown!. The following week, during The Undertaker's match with
Matt Hardy, Lesnar's
manager,
Paul Heyman, threatened The Undertaker's wife, Sara, and Lesnar attacked The Undertaker when he tried to save her. On the September 19 episode of
SmackDown!, The Undertaker tried to attack Lesnar, but was stopped by Lesnar's security. The main feud heading into Unforgiven on the Raw brand was between
Triple H and
Rob Van Dam for the
World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 2 episode of
Raw, Triple H was awarded the newly created World Heavyweight Championship by Raw General Manager
Eric Bischoff, and subsequently retained it against
Ric Flair. Later that night, Van Dam and Flair defeated Triple H and
Chris Jericho in a
tag team match, when Van Dam pinned Triple H. On the September 16 episode of
Raw, Triple H cost Van Dam his
WWE Intercontinental Championship against Jericho and in retaliation, Van Dam attacked Triple H following his World Heavyweight Championship defense against Hardy. Another main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. The feud started when
Billy and Chuck had a commitment ceremony on the September 12 episode of
SmackDown!. The priest of the ceremony was later revealed to be Bischoff in disguise, and Bischoff had
3-Minute Warning (
Jamal and
Rosey) attack Billy and Chuck, setting up a tag team match at Unforgiven. On the September 16 episode of
Raw, Bischoff proposed a stipulation for the match: if 3 Minute Warning won, Stephanie would be forced to participate in "Hot
Lesbian Action" with two other lesbians, but if Billy and Chuck won, Bischoff would have to kiss Stephanie's
buttocks. Another feud on the Raw brand was between
Molly Holly and
Trish Stratus for the
WWE Women's Championship. Four months prior, Holly and Stratus began a feud which lead to a Women's Championship match between the two at
King of the Ring in which Holly defeated Stratus to win the title. On the June 24 episode of
Raw, Holly proclaimed that she had bought dignity and respect back to the Women's Championship by not being a "tramp who sleeps her way to the top" referring to Stratus. On the July 15 episode of
Raw, Holly successfully defended her title against Stratus. On the September 2 episode of
Raw, Stratus and Bubba Ray Dudley defeated
Chris Nowinski and Holly in a
mixed tag team match. ==Event==