Unforgiven 2005 Unforgiven 2005 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . 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 . To date , it is the only WWE pay - per - view event ever to be held in the state of Oklahoma . The main event was a standard wrestling match , in which Kurt Angle defeated WWE Champion John Cena , after Cena intentionally disqualified himself . In WWE , a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification , as a result , Cena retained the title . Two featured bouts on the undercard was another standard match , in which Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Masters . The other primary match was a steel cage match , where the ring is enclosed by a steel cage , in which Matt Hardy 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 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 . 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 John Cena and Kurt Angle , who were competing for Cena ' s WWE Championship . At SummerSlam , Cena defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Championship . A rematch was held on the August 22 episode of " Raw " , one of WWE ' s primary television programs , when authority figure Eric Bischoff , a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer , announced a match between Cena and Jericho in a " You ' re Fired " match , in which the loser would be fired . The match saw Cena win , and Bischoff was scripted to fire 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 . Kurt Angle came down to the ring and attacked Cena by lifting Cena on his shoulders and spinning 90° to slam him down to the mat , a move Angle calls the " 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 " . Angle continued his attacks on Cena before their scheduled match at Unforgiven . On the August 29 episode of " Raw " , Cena 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 Tomko and Angle . Cena won the match by pinning Tomko after lifting Tomko onto his shoulders and slamming him down to the mat . Afterwards , Angle assaulted Cena , which led to Angle being scripted to smash Cena ' s ankle across the ring post , thus giving Angle the advantage heading into Unforgiven . Another major rivalry heading into the event was between Shawn Michaels and Chris Masters . This feud began the night after SummerSlam , where Michaels lost a match to Hulk Hogan . Michaels 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 Michaels ' speech , Masters interrupted him and informed Michaels that individuals like Hogan and Michaels did not know how to pass the torch to new wrestlers . Michaels 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 Michaels , but that he was going to " take it " . Michaels responded by saying that he knew where Masters was coming from , which led to Michaels slapping Masters . The two then brawled , thus turning Michaels into an on - screen hero , as he had been a villain in rivalry between Hogan . On the September 5 episode of " Raw " , Michaels 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 Michaels ' best efforts , he could not break free . Upset at the vigorous resistance of Michaels , Masters released the hold and hit Michaels with a steel chair before re - applying the hold . 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 was scripted to 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 the match , Edge attacked Hardy . On the August 29 episode of " Raw " , Edge and Hardy 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 Hardy and Edge brawled at the stage ramp . Hardy grabbed Edge by the side and threw both himself and Edge off the stage and into electrical equipment . Both Hardy 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 Hardy 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 Hardy and Snitsky , which Hardy lost . After the match , Snitsky threatened to hit Hardy with a ring bell but The Big Show came down . He was unable to stop Snitsky , and as a result , Snitsky succeeded in hitting Hardy with the bell . The Divas rivalry heading into the event was between Ashley Massaro and the stable known as Vince ' s Devils . Massaro won the Diva Search on August 15 , but on the following week ' s edition of " Raw " , she was attacked by Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle ( who were traded to Raw ) after they pretended to congratulate her , turning both Divas heel . 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 .