Unforgiven (2005)

Background in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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 2005 event was the eighth event in the Unforgiven chronology and took place on September 18 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Like the previous two years' events, it featured wrestlers exclusively from the Raw brand. Storylines Eight professional wrestling matches 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. A rematch was held on the August 22 episode of Raw, when Raw general manager Eric Bischoff announced a WWE Championship rematch between Cena and Jericho in a "You're Fired" match, in which the loser would be fired. The match saw Cena win, and Bischoff fired 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. After the match, Angle came down to the ring and attacked Cena with an 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". On the August 29 episode of Raw, Cena was scheduled in a handicap match. He faced Tyson Tomko and Angle. Cena won the match by pinning Tomko after an FU. Afterwards, Angle assaulted Cena, which led to Angle smashing Cena's ankle across the ring post, thus giving Angle the advantage heading into Unforgiven. 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 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 their villainous turns, Torrie and Candice aligned with Victoria to form Vince's Devils, and the trio spent weeks tormenting her, which included Massaro suffering a pair of losses to Victoria and Torrie. On the September 12 edition of Raw, Trish Stratus returned from injury and helped Massaro fight off the Devils, leading to the announcement that Torrie and Victoria would face Massaro and Stratus at Unforgiven. ==Event==

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Rob Conway defeated Tajiri in a match taped for Heat, one of WWE's secondary television programs. Preliminary matches The first televised match was 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 deliver a clothesline, but Flair brought Carlito down with an Inverted atomic drop. Flair later went for the figure four leglock, but Carlito reversed it. After back and forth action between the two, Flair took the advantage and applied the figure four leglock on Carlito. By making him tap out, Flair became the new Intercontinental Champion, the oldest in WWE history at 56. 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 Headscissors Takedown. Back and forth action continued; the match, however, came to an end when Stratus was able to perform a roundhouse kick on Victoria, giving the victory to Stratus and Ashley. The third match saw Big Show face 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. Big Show delivered a spinebuster and got the victory after a successful chokeslam. 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 delivered a clothesline and knife edged chops. Masters, however, dominated Michaels, focusing on his back by powerbombing Michaels several times. He also lifted Michaels vertically in the air and stalled him there before slamming him down. Michaels fought back, as he delivered a Diving Elbow Drop. 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 Sweet Chin Music, thus Michaels got the pinfall victory over Masters. In the main event, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle. 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 attempted an FU but Angle delivered an Angle Slam. 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. After the match, Bischoff tried to strip Cena of the title but was given an FU for his trouble then Angle attacked Cena until Cena delivered an FU through the Spanish announce table on Angle. ==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. The steel cage match was rated a 7 out of 10 stars, as well as the Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters' match. The DVD reached third on Billboards 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. ==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 triple threat match for the WWE Championship would take place between Cena, Angle and the fans' choice at Taboo Tuesday. Bischoff announced 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 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 Michaels. 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. Triple H and Flair defeated Masters and Carlito; after the match, Triple H turned on Flair and hit him with a sledgehammer and marked officially the end of Evolution after more than two long years since 2003. 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. ==Results==