IWE Unforgiven (2005)

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Revision as of 00:08, 23 March 2012

Unforgiven (2005)
Promotional poster featuring Dustin Simpson and Matt Borske
Theme song(s)	"Calling" by Taproot
Imformation
Promotion	International Wrestling Entertainment
Brand (s)	Raw
Date	September 18, 2005
Attendance	8,000
Venue	Ford Center
City	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Pay-per-view chronology
SummerSlam (2005)	Unforgiven (2005)	No Mercy (2005)
Unforgiven chronology
Unforgiven (2004)	Unforgiven (2005)	Unforgiven (2006)

Unforgiven (2005) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by International Wrestling Entertainment (IWE). It was the seventh annual Unforgiven event and took place on September 18, 2005 at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the Raw program.

The main event was a standard wrestling match, in which Matt Borske defeated IWE Champion Dustin Simpson, after Cena intentionally disqualified himself. In IWWE, a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification, as a result, Simpson retained the title. Two featured bouts on the undercard was another standard match, in which Ryan Barnhart defeated James Masters. The other primary match was a steel cage match, where the ring is enclosed by a steel cage, in which Matt Hooper defeated Edge.

Unforgiven grossed over $485,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of approximately 8,000, and received about 243,000 pay-per-view buys. This amount was higher than the following year's event. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of third on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart.

Background

Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card beforehand, which were planned with predetermined outcomes by IWE'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 IWE 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.

The main rivalry written into Unforgiven was between Dustin Simpson and Matt Borske, who were competing for Simpson's IWE Championship. At SummerSlam, Simpson defeated Khris Jericho to retain the IWE Championship. A rematch was held on the August 22 episode of Raw, one of IWE's primary television programs, when authority figure Eric Bischoff, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced a match between Simpson and Jericho in a "You're Fired" match, in which the loser would be fired. The match saw Simpson win, and Bischoff was scripted to fire a pleading Jericho, who was carried out of the arena by security. This angle was written after IWE'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 Simpson. Matt Borske came down to the ring and attacked Simpson by lifting Simpson on his shoulders and spinning 90° to slam him down to the mat, a move Borske calls the Borske Slam. As Simpson was down, Bischoff announced that Borske was the new contender for the IWE Championship, claiming that Jericho "couldn't get the job done". On the August 29 episode of Raw, Simpson was scheduled in a Handicap match, a match where one wrestler or team of wrestlers face off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. He faced Tyson Kanta and Borske. Simpson won the match by pinning Kanta after lifting Kanta onto his shoulders and slamming him down to the mat. Afterwards, Borske assaulted Simpson, which led to Borske being scripted to smash Simpson's ankle across the ring post, thus giving Borske the advantage heading into Unforgiven.

Another major rivalry heading into the event was between Ryan Barnhart and James Masters. This feud began the night after SummerSlam, where Barnhart lost a match to Hulk Hogan. Barnhart admitted he fell victim to Hogan's leg drop, a move where Hogan drops his legs across the opponent's head or chest. He concluded that Hogan was the better man and it was time to get "back to reality". Mid-way through Barnhart's speech, Masters interrupted him and informed Barnhart that individuals like Hogan and Barnhart did not know how to pass the torch to new wrestlers. Barnhart went along with Masters' comments and warned Masters to not group him with Hogan. Masters concluded by stating that he was not "trying" to steal the spotlight from Barnhart, but that he was going to "take it". Barnhart responded by saying that he knew where Masters was coming from, which led to Barnhart slapping Masters. The two then brawled, thus turning Barnhart into an on-screen hero, as he had been a villain in rivalry between Hogan. On the September 5 episode of Raw, Barnhart was involved in the Masterlock Challenge, a challenge where the wrestler must break free from Master's full Nelson submission hold, which he calls the Master Lock. Despite Barnhart best efforts, he could not break free. Upset at the vigorous resistance of Barnhart, Masters released the hold and hit Barnhart with a steel chair before re-applying the hold. The following week, Barnhart 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 Hooper and Edge, a real life issue transformed into a storyline. At SummerSlam, Edge defeated Hooper after dropping him onto the top of a ring post. This was scripted to caused Hooper to bleed heavily, which forced the referee to end the match and declare Edge the winner because Hooper could not continue. The next night on Raw, Hooper had a match with Rob Rogge, in which Rogge pinned Hooper for the win. After the match, Edge attacked Hooper. On the August 29 episode of Raw, Edge and Hooper were scheduled to compete in a Street Fight, a match where there are no disqualifications, no countouts, and scoring conditions can occur anywhere in the arena. The match ended in a no-contest after Hooper and Edge brawled at the stage ramp. Hooper grabbed Edge by the side and threw both himself and Edge off the stage and into electrical equipment. Both Hooper and Edge laid motionless on the floor as sparks flew everywhere. Trainers and emergency medical technicians rushed to the scene and took both men away in ambulances for medical attention. The following week, Bischoff booked Hooper and Edge in a steel cage match at Unforgiven, where the ring would be enclosed by a steel cage. Following the announcement, Bischoff scheduled a match between Hooper and Dominic, which Hooper lost. After the match, Dominic threatened to hit Hooper with a ring bell but The Big Show came down. He was unable to stop Dominic, and as a result, Dominic succeeded in hitting Hooper with the bell.

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Rob Conway defeated Tajiri in a match taped for Heat, one of IWE's secondary television programs.

Preliminary matches

The first televised match was a standard wrestling match for the IWE 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 hit Flair with his forearm, but Flair brought Carlito down by lifting him from behind and dropping him on his legs. Flair went for the figure four leglock, a move where a wrestler stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat face up and grasps a leg of the opponent, thus applying pressure into the crossed legs with his own, but Carlito reversed it. After back and forth action between the two, Flair took the advantage and applied the figure four leglock on Carlito, thus making him submit. Which resulted in Flair becoming the new Intercontinental Champion.

The next match was a tag team match featuring the team of Bailey Dalton and Ashley against the team of Courtney Savoie and Jessica Wilson (with Ali Richards) as Courtney and Wilson's manager). The match started off with Wilson and Dalton in the ring. Wilson tagged in Courtney, who applied a full-body choke on Dalton but Dalton started to work on Courtney's arm. Courtney countered Dalton's arm takedown. Dalton then performed a takedown by scissoring Courtney's head with her legs and forcefully dragging her down to the mat. Back and forth action took place; the match, however, came to an end when Dalton was able to perform a roundhouse kick on Courtney, giving the pinfall victory to Dalton and Ashley.

The third match was a standard match between The Big Show and Dominic. The match began with Big Show and Dominic brawling as the bell rang. Big Show was able to perform a big slap to the chest and headbutt. Dominic then took the upper hand over Big Show, as he applied an armbar hold, after countering a chokeslam, a move where The Big Show lifts the opponent by the throat and slams them down to the mat. Big Show then made a comeback when he lifted Dominic by the waist and slammed him down to the mat. Big Show then got the victory after a successful chokeslam.

The next match was another standard match involving Junior Remeriz and Kerwin White. White tried to get in the ring, but Remeriz slid out and tripped him. Remeriz threw White into the ring barricade, which led him to throw him back in the ring as the bell rang to officially start the match. In the ring, Remeriz lifted and slammed White to the mat, which followed by a running foearm. White retaliated with a dropkick to Remeriz's knee. The match concluded after White grabbed a golf club that he hid in the steel steps and tried to assault Remeriz with it. Remeriz, however, countered by throwing White up in the air and catching him by slamming him down to the mat. Remeriz covered White and got the pinfall victory.

The fifth match was a Steel Cage match contested between Matt Hooper and Edge, who was accompanied by Lita. As the bell rang, Hooper tried to throw Edge face-first into the cage wall but did not succeed. Back and forth action took place until Hooper got the advantage over Edge. Lita began to climb up the outside of the cage, but Hooper hit the cage, making Lita fall off. As Lita distracted Hooper, Edge started to crawl out. Hardy noticed this, grabbed Edge, and threw him into a corner. Lita interfered, which led to Hooper grabbing Lita's head in a forward position and forcefully pulling it down over his shoulders. Hooper turned around and was hit with a spear but he kicked out like a boss. Hooper knocked edge off the turnbuckle Hooper got to the top of the cage and delivered a leg drop before covering Edge for the victory.

Main event matches

The next match was Rosey and The Hurricane taking on Collin McCullough and Phillip Legg for the World Tag Team Championship. The match started with Hurricane and McCullough locked up, a term used to describe grappling. McCullough managed to gain the advantage over Hurricane with some fists. During the match, Legg drove Hurricane's head into the floor on the outside of the ring. IWE Medical trainers came to ringside to check on Hurricane. The match concluded when McCullough pinned the legitimately injured Hurricane, to win the World Tag Team Championship.

The seventh match was a standard match between Ryan Barnhart and James Masters. The match started with Masters applying the Masterlock on Barnhart. After breaking the hold, Barnhart hit Masters with his forearm and slapped his chest several times. Masters, however, dominated Barnhart, focusing on his back by lifting and sitting Barnhart onto his shoulders and slamming him down to the mat several times. He also lifted Barnhart vertically in the air and stalled him there before slamming him down. Barnhart fought back, as he drove his cocked elbow onto Masters' chest. Masters was able to lock in the Masterlock once more. Barnhart tried to use the corners to break the hold, but Masters kept it locked on. Barnhart then leaped over the top rope and landed on the ring apron, causing the referee to order Masters to break the hold. Barnhart countered with a superkick, which saw the sole of his foot strike Masters' chin, a move in which Barnhart calls Sweet Chin Music. Barnhart got the pinfall victory over Masters.

Aftermath

Reception

Results

Notes

References

• (2005). SummerSlam [DVD]. International Wrestling Entertainment.
• (2005). Unforgiven [DVD]. International Wrestling Entertainment.
• (2008). Triple K: The King of Kings [DVD]. International Wrestling Entertainment.