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WWE Unforgiven

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WWE Unforgiven
WWE Unforgiven logo (with current WWE logo)
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
BrandsRaw (2002–2008)
SmackDown (2002, 2007–2008)
ECW (2007–2008)
Other nameUnforgiven: In Your House
First eventUnforgiven: In Your House
Last event2008

WWE Unforgiven was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. It was first held as the 21st In Your House PPV in April 1998. Unforgiven returned as its own PPV in September 1999 and continued as the annual September PPV until the final event in 2008. From its first event up through the 2001 event, the PPV was held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Unforgiven: In Your House was notable for featuring the first Inferno match, as well as the first evening gown match. After WWE introduced the brand extension in 2002, Unforgiven from 2003 to 2006 was held exclusively for the Raw brand. Following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, thus the 2007 and 2008 events also featured the SmackDown and ECW brands. In 2009, Unforgiven was discontinued and replaced by Breaking Point.

History

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Unforgiven was first held as an In Your House pay-per-view (PPV) event. In Your House was a series of monthly PPVs first produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in May 1995. They aired when the promotion was not holding one of its major PPVs and were sold at a lower cost. Unforgiven: In Your House was the 21st In Your House event and took place on April 26, 1998, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. This inaugural Unforgiven event was notable for introducing the Inferno match, as well as the first evening gown match.[1]

After the In Your House branding was retired following February 1999's St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, Unforgiven branched off as its own PPV that September.[1] Unforgiven then continued as the promotion's annual September PPV until 2008.[2] After the 2008 event, Unforgiven was discontinued and replaced by Breaking Point in 2009.[3]

In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a result of a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initialism.[4] Also around this time, the promotion held a draft that split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling, Raw and SmackDown!, where wrestlers exclusively performed[5]—a third brand, ECW, was added in 2006.[6] To coincide with the brand extension, Unforgiven was held exclusively for wrestlers of the Raw brand from 2003 to 2006.[7][8][9][10] Following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs,[11] thus the 2007 and 2008 events featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.[12][2]

Theme Songs

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The theme songs that were used in the event are "Beat Dream" by composer Dan Stein in 1998, "Terror Town" by composers Bruce Chianese and Geoff Levin in both 1999 and 2001, "Edgecrusher" by Fear Factory and "Sugar" by System of a Down both in 1999, "Behind The Curtain" by composers Joseph Saba and Stewart Winter in 2000, "Adrenaline" by Gavin Rossdale in 2002, "Enemy" by Sevendust and "Suffocate" by Cold ft. Sierra Swan both in 2003, "Survival of the Sickest" by Saliva in 2004, "Calling" by Taproot in 2005, "Run" by Day of Fire in 2006, "Rise Today" by Alter Bridge in 2007 and "Rock Out" by Motörhead in 2008.

Events

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Raw-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Unforgiven: In Your House April 26, 1998 Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Complex Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Dude Love for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship [1]
2 Unforgiven (1999) September 26, 1999 Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Coliseum Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Kane vs. Mankind vs. Big Show vs. The British Bulldog in a Six-Pack Challenge for the vacant WWF Championship with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest enforcer [1]
3 Unforgiven (2000) September 24, 2000 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania First Union Center The Rock (c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane in a fatal four-way match for the WWF Championship [13]
4 Unforgiven (2001) September 23, 2001 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mellon Arena Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship [14]
5 Unforgiven (2002) September 22, 2002 Los Angeles, California Staples Center Brock Lesnar (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWE Championship [15]
6 Unforgiven (2003) September 21, 2003 Hershey, Pennsylvania Giant Center Triple H (c) vs. Goldberg in a Title vs. Career match for the World Heavyweight Championship [7]
7 Unforgiven (2004) September 12, 2004 Portland, Oregon Rose Garden Arena Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship [8]
8 Unforgiven (2005) September 18, 2005 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Ford Center John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship [9]
9 Unforgiven (2006) September 17, 2006 Toronto, Ontario, Canada Air Canada Centre Edge (c) vs. John Cena in a Last Chance Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship [10]
10 Unforgiven (2007) September 16, 2007 Memphis, Tennessee FedExForum The Undertaker vs. Mark Henry [12]
11 Unforgiven (2008) September 7, 2008 Cleveland, Ohio Quicken Loans Arena Chris Jericho vs. Batista vs. Kane vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. Rey Mysterio in a Championship Scramble for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship [2]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Cawthon, Graham (2013). The History of Professional Wrestling. Vol. 2: WWF 1990–1999. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ASIN B00RWUNSRS.
  2. ^ a b c "Unforgiven 2008". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  3. ^ "Poll on a Pole!". WWE Magazine: 29. August 2009.
  4. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2002-05-06. Archived from the original on 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  5. ^ "WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2002-05-27. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  6. ^ "WWE Launches ECW as Third Brand". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2006-05-25. Archived from the original on 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  7. ^ a b "Unforgiven 2003". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  8. ^ a b "Unforgiven 2004 venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  9. ^ a b "Unforgiven (2005) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Unforgiven 2006". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  11. ^ "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. 2007-03-14. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  12. ^ a b "Unforgiven results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  13. ^ "Unforgiven 2000 official results". World Wrestling Entertainment. September 24, 2000. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  14. ^ "Unforgiven 2001 official results". World Wrestling Entertainment. September 23, 2001. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
  15. ^ "Unfogiven 2002 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
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