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

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.

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. Unforgiven then continued as the promotion's annual September PPV until 2008. After the 2008 event, Unforgiven was discontinued and replaced by Breaking Point in 2009.

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. 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—a third brand, ECW, was added in 2006. To coincide with the brand extension, Unforgiven was held exclusively for wrestlers of the Raw brand from 2003 to 2006. Following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, thus the 2007 and 2008 events featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands.

Theme Songs

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

Raw-branded event
#EventDateCityVenueMain eventRef.
1Unforgiven: In Your HouseApril 26, 1998Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro Coliseum ComplexStone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Dude Love for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
2Unforgiven (1999)September 26, 1999Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte ColiseumTriple 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
3Unforgiven (2000)September 24, 2000Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaFirst Union CenterThe Rock (c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. The Undertaker vs. Kane in a fatal four-way match for the WWF Championship
4Unforgiven (2001)September 23, 2001Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaMellon ArenaStone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship
5Unforgiven (2002)September 22, 2002Los Angeles, CaliforniaStaples CenterBrock Lesnar (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWE Championship
6Unforgiven (2003)September 21, 2003Hershey, PennsylvaniaGiant CenterTriple H (c) vs. Goldberg in a Title vs. Career match for the World Heavyweight Championship
7Unforgiven (2004)September 12, 2004Portland, OregonRose Garden ArenaRandy Orton (c) vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship
8Unforgiven (2005)September 18, 2005Oklahoma City, OklahomaFord CenterJohn Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship
9Unforgiven (2006)September 17, 2006Toronto, Ontario, CanadaAir Canada CentreEdge (c) vs. John Cena in a Last Chance Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship
10Unforgiven (2007)September 16, 2007Memphis, TennesseeFedExForumThe Undertaker vs. Mark Henry
11Unforgiven (2008)September 7, 2008Cleveland, OhioQuicken Loans ArenaChris Jericho vs. Batista vs. Kane vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. Rey Mysterio in a Championship Scramble for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

External links