Unforgiven 2004 Unforgiven ( 2004 ) was a professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) and presented by Clearasil , which took place on September 12 , 2004 at the Rose Garden in Portland , Oregon . It was the sixth annual ( seventh overall ) Unforgiven event . The show ' s seven matches showcased prominent WWE wrestlers , who acted out the franchise ' s stories in and out of the ring . The event starred talent from the Raw brand . It is one of only two WWE pay - per - view events to ever be held in the state of Oregon , the other being No Mercy 2008 . The main event was Randy Orton versus Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Triple H won by pinfall 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 , which Michaels won after performing Sweet Chin Music . Another primary match on the undercard was Chris Jericho versus Christian in a Ladder match for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship , which Jericho won by retrieving the suspended belt . Background . Seven 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 feud heading into the event was between Randy Orton and Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship . At the August pay - per - view event , SummerSlam , WWE ' s previous pay - per - view event , Orton defeated Chris Benoit to win the World Heavyweight Championship , thus making Orton the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history . On the August 16 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , one of WWE ' s primary television programs , Orton successfully retained the title in a rematch with Benoit . After the match , Evolution | Evolution ( Batista , Ric Flair , 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 fan favorite when he continued to feud with his former group members . On the August 23 edition of " Raw " , after Orton refused to give Triple H the World title , Orton spat in Triple H ' s face and hit him with the title belt . General Manager Eric Bischoff then scheduled a match between the two for the World Heavyweight title at Unforgiven . The following week on " Raw " , Eugene defeated Triple H in a singles match after Orton interfered and performed an RKO on Triple H . On the September 6 edition " Raw " , Orton defeated Kane in a Steel Cage match , which Orton won 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 , came up with the idea of having Orton be a fan favorite the day of SummerSlam . According to Orton , transforming into a fan favorite was " tough " because " no one bought it " . The second main feud heading into the event was between Kane and Shawn Michaels . This feud began the night after Bad Blood , when Michaels lost a Hell in a Cell match to Triple H . Raw commentator Jim Ross 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 with a wedged chair . Michaels was then taken out in an ambulance for medical attention . On the June 28 , 2004 edition 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 edition of " Raw " , Kane revealed that Eric Bischoff ' s wedding gift to him and Lita , who married the week before , was to name any match he wanted for the September pay - per - view , 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 . The third main feud heading into the event was between Chris Jericho and Christian over the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship . On the September 6 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , Eric Bischoff stripped Edge of the Intercontinental Championship , after Edge suffered a legitimate 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 on Raw 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 and Rodney Mack ( with Jazz ) faced off in a match during " Sunday Night Heat " . Maven pinned Mack with a roll - up after Mack collided with Jazz . Preliminary matches . The first match of the event was the tag team encounter of Chris Benoit and William Regal against the team of Evolution ( Ric Flair and Batista ) . 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 spar , but Batista was able to gain control over Regal , until Benoit and Flair tag 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 , in which Flair submitted to , giving the win to Benoit and Regal . The next match was the encounter of Victoria and Trish Stratus ( with Tyson Tomko ) for the WWE Women ' s Championship . 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 hit a Stratusfaction on Victoria and got a successful pinfall , thus Stratus winning the match and retaining 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 , 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 hitting a swinging neckbreaker and winning the match via pinfall . The fourth match was for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship between Christian and Chris Jericho 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 . Main event matches . The next match was a No Disqualification match between Kane , who was accompanied by Lita , and Shawn Michaels . Kane would gain the early advantage as he suplex ed Michaels through the announcers table , which resulted in the table breaking . Kane would continue to brawl with Michaels at ringside where he hit Michaels face first onto the ringside steel steps , which resulted in Michaels bleeding from the forehead . As Kane attempted to hit Michaels with a steel chair , Michaels would counter it with Sweet Chin Music , which gained a successful pinfall . The following match was for the World Tag Team Championship , in which champions La Résistance ( Sylvain Grenier and Robért Conway ) defended the title against Tajiri and Rhyno . 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 flag and managed to pin him and La Resistance winning the match and retaining the World Tag Team title . The seventh and final match was between Randy Orton and Triple H 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 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 hit an RKO on all three 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 Orton for the win via pinfall . Aftermath . Following Unforgiven , Triple H had a celebration thrown in his honor , complete with six women , confetti , streamers and a giant cake . Randy Orton , however , sought revenge , as he lashed out at all three Evolution | 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 for the World Heavyweight Championship , as he was unable to win a match against Batista , 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 ; Chris Benoit and Edge 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 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 . 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 Michaels , allowing Triple H to pin him . Randy Orton began a feud with Ric Flair , 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 , 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 RKO to Flair . After the match , Flair shook Orton ' s hand . At Taboo Tuesday , Chris Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin via pinfall . Benjamin won the vote to face Jericho ; he also was voted over Batista , Jonathan Coachman , Christian , Rhyno , Maven , William Regal , The Hurricane , Tyson Tomko , Tajiri , Steven Richards , Val Venis , Rosey , Chuck Palumbo , and Rodney Mack . On the October 11 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , La Résistance had to defend the World Tag Team Championship in a match with Eugene and William Regal . Regal hit Sylvain Grenier with a pair of brass knuckles and pinned him to the 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 Crippler Crossface to win the World Tag Team Championship .