The 2004 Unforgiven was the seventh annual

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

pay-per-view (PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on September 12, 2004, at the

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. It is one of only two WWE pay-per-view events to ever be held in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, the other being No Mercy in 2008. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was Randy Orton versus

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Triple H won by

pinfall In wrestling, a pin is achieved by holding an opponent's shoulders to the mat for a three count. Pinfall is the term used in professional wrestling which is a way to win the match for that person or team. Background A pinfall is a victory condi ...

after executing a Pedigree onto a steel chair. One of the predominant matches on the card was Shawn Michaels versus Kane in a

No Disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

, which Michaels won after performing Sweet Chin Music. Another primary match on the undercard was

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

versus Christian in a Ladder match for the vacant

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roste ...

, which Jericho won by retrieving the suspended belt.

Production

Background

was first held by

(WWE) as the 21st In Your House pay-per-view (PPV) in April 1998. Following the discontinuation of the

In Your House In Your House (known as NXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020 and 2021 and then NXT In Your House beginning in 2022) is a professional wrestling series of events created by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The events or ...

series in February 1999, Unforgiven branched off as its own PPV in September that year, becoming WWE's annual September PPV. The 2004 event was the seventh event in the Unforgiven chronology and took place on September 12 at the

. Like the previous year's event, it featured wrestlers exclusively from the Raw

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

Storylines

Seven

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

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 the Raw 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. Orton2004-whc

The main

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

heading into the event was between Randy Orton and

over the World Heavyweight Championship. At

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...

, Orton defeated

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...

to win the World Heavyweight Championship, thus making Orton the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history. On the August 16 episode of ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', Orton successfully retained the title in a rematch with Benoit. After the match,

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

(

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

, and Triple H), Orton's fellow stablemates, threw him a fake celebration, only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory. While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders in elation, Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs up; Triple H, however, abruptly changed the thumbs up to a thumbs-down and told Batista to drop Orton to the mat. Flair and Batista then began to beat Orton in the ring as Triple H claimed that Orton was nothing without Evolution. Orton's break-up with Evolution began a new storyline for him as a

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

when he began to feud with his former group members. On the August 23 episode of ''Raw'', after Orton refused to give Triple H the World Heavyweight Championship, Orton spat in Triple H's face and hit him with the title belt. Raw General Manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

then scheduled a match between the two for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven. On the August 30 episode of ''Raw'', Eugene defeated Triple H in a singles match after Orton interfered and performed an

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

on Triple H. On the September 6 episode of ''Raw'', Orton defeated Kane in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

by escaping the cage. Shortly after the match ended, Ric Flair and Batista came out and, along with Triple H, began attacking Orton. In an interview with the '' Daily Star'' in 2006, Orton revealed that WWE chairman,

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

, came up with the idea of having Orton turn face the day of SummerSlam. According to Orton, transforming into a face was "tough" because "no one bought it". The second main feud heading into the event was between Kane and Shawn Michaels. This feud began after Bad Blood, when Michaels lost a

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenci ...

match to Triple H. On the June 14 episode of ''Raw'', Raw commentator

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career as ...

tried making amends between Michaels and Triple H by making them to shake hands. Michaels and Triple H extended their hands to shake, however, Kane came out and attacked Michaels, which resulted in Kane, in storyline, crushing Michaels'

throat In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the front part of the neck, internally positioned in front of the vertebrae. It contains the pharynx and larynx. An important section of it is the epiglottis, separating the esophagus from the trachea (windpipe ...

with a wedged chair. Michaels was then taken out in an ambulance for medical attention. On the June 28 episode of ''Raw'', Ross interviewed Kane and asked him to explain his actions towards Michaels; Kane explained that he was robbed of the World Heavyweight Championship at Bad Blood against Chris Benoit, as Michaels got in his way, which angered him. On the August 30 episode of ''Raw'', Kane revealed that Eric Bischoff's wedding gift to him and Lita, who married on the August 23 episode of ''Raw'', was to name any match he wanted at Unforgiven. Lita then informed Kane that Bischoff's present was for both of them, where they were able to pick Kane's opponent for Unforgiven, which resulted in Michaels being picked. Prior to the match, Kane revealed that it had become a no disqualification match. The third main feud heading into the event was between

and Christian over the vacant

. On the September 6 episode of ''Raw'', Eric Bischoff stripped

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

of the Intercontinental Championship, after Edge suffered a legitimate groin injury. Christian interrupted Bischoff and stated that all his peeps would riot the streets if Bischoff did not award him the vacant championship. Jericho suggested that he and Christian wrestle in a match later that night over the vacant championship. Bischoff, however, scheduled a Ladder match at Unforgiven between Christian and Jericho.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view,

Maven MAVEN is an American spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of its atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of the planet's climate and water. The spacecraft name is an acronym for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolu ...

defeated

Rodney Mack Rodney Begnaud (born October 12, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name Rodney Mack. He is signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time with WWE . Profes ...

in a match during '' Sunday Night Heat''.

Preliminary matches

The first match of the event was the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

encounter of

and

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...

against the team of

(

and

). The match started off with Batista and Chris Benoit, who brawled back and forth until Flair was tagged in. Flair and Benoit exchanged knife edge chops. Batista and Regal then sparred, but Batista was able to gain control over Regal, until Benoit and Flair tagged in to the match. Benoit and Flair spar back and forth, until Flair applied the Figure four lock only for Benoit to reverse it into the

Crippler Crossface Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use ...

, in which Flair submitted to, giving the win to Benoit and Regal. The next match was the encounter of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Per ...

(with Tyson Tomko) for the

WWE Women's Championship WWE (formerly the WWF, WWWF, and its predecessor, Capitol Wrestling) has maintained several women's professional wrestling championships since acquiring The Fabulous Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship in 1984. Whenever brand division has be ...

. Victoria gained control over Stratus early into the match, however, Stratus gained control after Tomko interfered on her behalf. After Stratus gained the advantage, she performed a Stratusfaction on Victoria and got a successful pinfall, thus Stratus retained the Women's Championship. After the match, Tomko tried to attack Victoria, until she was saved by an unknown man in a dress. Tomko then challenged the mystery superstar into a match. The third match was between Tyson Tomko and

Stevie Richards Michael Stephen Manna (born October 9, 1971), better known by his ring name Stevie Richards, is an American professional wrestler. Over the course of his career, Richards has performed for major professional wrestling promotions including Easte ...

, the man dressed in women's clothing. Tomko quickly gained the advantage after stripping off all of the clothes on Richards, leaving Richards left wearing a pair of woman's underwear. Tomko continued his attack on Richards by delivering a swinging neckbreaker and winning the match via pinfall. The fourth match was for the vacant

between Christian and

in a Ladder match. The two superstars brawled early into the match, but they then retrieved ladders and used them to their advantage. Christian was then able to gain control over the match after he performed a running enziguri onto Jericho. The two superstars then continued in a back and forth match, until Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho on Christian, on the top of the ladder, which caused Christian to fall down. Jericho failed to retrieve the title on the first attempt, but was able to set up another ladder and successfully retrieved the title on the second attempt, thus Jericho winning the match and the WWE Intercontinental Championship for a record seventh reign at the time.

Main event matches

The next match was a

between Kane, who was accompanied by Lita, and Shawn Michaels. Kane would gain the early advantage as he performed a toss

suplex A suplex is an offensive move used in sport wrestling as well as amateur wrestling and professional wrestling. It is a throw that involves lifting the opponents and bridging or rolling to slam them on their backs. Professional wrestling featu ...

on Michaels through the announce table. Kane would continue to brawl with Michaels at ringside where he hit Michaels with the ringside steel steps, which resulted in Michaels bleeding. As Kane attempted to hit Michaels with a steel chair, Lita would interfere and grab the chair away from Kane. Kane then attempted a

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an 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 power ...

, but Michaels would counter it with Sweet Chin Music, which gained a successful pinfall. The following match was for the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...

, in which champions La Résistance (

Sylvain Grenier Sylvain Grenier (born March 26, 1977) is a Canadian TV host and semi-retired professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE as a producer since 2020. He is best known for his time wrestling for WWE between 2002 and 2007 where he was part of ...

and Robért Conway) defended the title against Tajiri and

Rhyno Terrance Guido Gerin (born October 7, 1975) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Rhyno or Rhino. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is one-half of the Impact World Tag Team Champions in his secon ...

. There was back and forth action between the two teams, as all the superstars were able to participate in the match. Grenier hit Rhyno with a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

flag and managed to pin him, thus allowing La Resistance to win the match and retain the World Tag Team title. The main event was between Randy Orton and

for the World Heavyweight Championship. Both Orton and Triple H managed to get the upper hand in the match. During the match, Ric Flair and Batista interfered on behalf of Triple H, as they attacked Orton while the referee was knocked out.

Jonathan Coachman Jonathan William Coachman (born August 12, 1973), also known as "The Coach", is an American sports analyst and former professional wrestling personality currently signed to WWE and XFL. Early life Before embarking on an announcing career in p ...

also took part in the match as he ran down with a referee shirt and tried to act as a guest referee. Orton managed to get the upper hand over Flair, Batista and Coachman as he delivered an

on all of them. Triple H, however, managed to hit Orton with a steel chair, which proceeded with a Pedigree onto the same chair. Batista then rolled the referee into the ring, as Triple H

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Orton for the win via pinfall and score his 9th world championship.

Aftermath

Following Unforgiven,

had a celebration thrown in his honor, complete with six women, confetti, streamers and a giant cake. Randy Orton, however, sought revenge, as he attacked all three Evolution members, as he came out of the giant cake, which was placed in the center of the ring, and humiliated the group. Orton was however ineligible to face Triple H at

Taboo Tuesday WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, th ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship, as he was unable to win a match against

, which would have given Orton a championship match. On the October 4, 2004 edition of ''Raw'', three candidates were named as potential contenders for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship at Taboo Tuesday;

and

were revealed as two of the candidates. Shawn Michaels, however, competed in a qualifying match, which it saw him defeat Christian, to become the third candidate. On the October 18 edition of ''Raw'', a

Triple Threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

was scheduled between Michaels, Benoit and Edge, which Edge won after he pinned Benoit by using the ropes for leverage. During the match, Michaels injured his knee, and it was later revealed that he tore his

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

. At Taboo Tuesday, Michaels won the fans vote and faced Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, however, Michaels was unable to win the match after Edge interfered and

speared A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...

Michaels, allowing Triple H to pin him. Randy Orton began a

with

, after Flair was the one responsible for making Orton lose the match against Batista. Orton commented on every accomplishment that Flair had made and criticized him for calling Triple H the greatest wrestler of all. Flair retaliated to Orton's comments, stating that individuals like Shawn Michaels and

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

, who Orton had previously feuded with, were not legends, therefore Orton was not a Legend Killer. Flair also stated that he and Orton would have a match at Taboo Tuesday and the fans would have the opportunity to choose what type of match they face in. At Taboo Tuesday, Orton and Flair met in a Steel Cage match, which was the fans selection. Orton won the match after delivering an

to Flair. After the match, Flair shook Orton's hand. At Taboo Tuesday,

lost the Intercontinental Championship to

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name. He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wres ...

via pinfall. Benjamin won the vote to face Jericho; he also was voted over Batista,

, Christian,

, The Hurricane, Tyson Tomko, Tajiri, Steven Richards,

Val Venis Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by the ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from ...

, Rosey,

Chuck Palumbo Charles Palumbo (born June 15, 1971) is an Italian-American television personality, motorcycle and automotive designer/fabricator, home designer/builder, and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional w ...

, and

. On the October 11, 2004 edition of ''Raw'', La Résistance had to defend the

in a match with Eugene and William Regal. Regal hit Sylvain Grenier with a pair of brass knuckles and pinned him to win the World Tag Team title. Eric Bischoff, however, restarted the match. The match resulted in La Résistance retaining the title, after Robért Conway jabbed Regal in the side with a flagpole. Bischoff informed La Résistance that at Taboo Tuesday they were scheduled to defend the World Tag Team title against the two individuals who were not chosen to face Triple H for the World title. Shawn Michaels won the fans choice, which gave Edge and Chris Benoit a World Tag Team title match. Edge, however, abandoned Benoit during the match, which forced Benoit to wrestle both members of La Résistance by himself. Despite this, Benoit managed to force Conway to submit to the

to win the World Tag Team Championship.

Results

Notes

References

* (2004). ''Unforgiven VD

.'' *

External links

Unforgiven Official Website
{{good article Events in Portland, Oregon 2004 2004 in Oregon Professional wrestling in Oregon 2004 WWE pay-per-view events September 2004 events in the United States WWE Raw