Unforgiven (2018) was a professional wrestling pay per view event produced by War Hawks Entertainment Inc. for the Raw brand. It took place on Sunday, September 9, 2018 from the KEY Arena in Seattle, WA. It will be the first event in the WHEI Unforgiven chronology as well as the first Raw branded pay per view of season 3 and the second pay per view of season 3 overall.
In the main event Samoa Joe defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the WHEI Universal Championship for the second time.
Also at the event Guardian made her season 3 debut against Beth Phoenix in an impressive but unsuccessful manor.
Background
The card consisted of matches resulting from scripted storylines that played out on WHEI's Raw brand. Storylines were played out on the War Hawks' weekly show on Twitch Monday Night Raw. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters as they built tension that result in a match or series of matches leading into the event.
The primary feud heading into the event was between Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe with the two of them feuding over the WHEI Universal Championship. At SummerSlam the previous month, Nakamura defeated Joe to win the championship. The next night on Raw Miz came out and complained that he never got his title match he was promised way back in season 1, so Juggernaut told him he would get it if he could defeat Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match that night. Miz lost the match due to interference from Joe. Joe then told Nakamura he would be invoking his rematch clause at Unforgiven.
The secondary feud heading into the event was originally between Raw co-General Manager The Juggernaut and Cactus Jack ('92) with the two of them feuding over the WHEI Intercontinental Championship. However it eventually also involved the creation of the WHEI European Championship (not to be confused with the UK Championship). On the August 27, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw Ironman announced that in order to even out the championships on the main 3 shows they would be bringing back the European Championship with an 8 Man Tournament with the finals at Unforgiven. The first six participants were announced right then, Randy Orton, Tomasso Ciampa, The Miz, Neville, Juggernaut and Triple H. With the final 2 set to be annouced next week on Raw. The final two were eventually announced as Edge and Undertaker ('00). The following episode of Raw, Juggernaut, Triple H, Edge, and Undertaker advanced to the semi finals by defeating Randy Orton, Tomasso Ciampa, The Miz, and Neville respectively. At SummerSlam Juggernaut defeated Big Boss Man ('91), Dean Ambrose, and Zack Ryder in a Fatal 4 Way to win the title, and was originally scheduled to face Cactus at Unforgiven, this was changed when he was placed in the tournament to the finals being for both titles if he made it to the finals, which he did at a live event on September 4th by defeating Triple H. Cactus got his title match the next night and lost. Also at the same live event Undertaker defeated Edge following a distraction from the Miz to advance to the final, which also set up a match between Edge and the Miz at the event.
The tag team feud heading into the event was between The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) and Savage & Canadian (the mix matched pairing of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Kevin Owens). with the two teams feuding over the WHEI Raw Tag Team Championship. After being left off the SummerSlam card, the Club went over Interm Raw General Manager Nick Nitro's head and complained straight to co-General Manager Juggernaut the next night on Raw. While Juggernaut wasn't happy about his tag team champions being left off the show he also didn't like complainers and told them they would compete at Unforgiven, if they made it there with the titles. This caused tension between Nitro and Juggernaut. That night The Club beat Savage & Canadian to retain the titles, but due to the phenominal effort the challengers put forth they were granted a rematch at Unforgiven.
The women's feud heading into the event was between Sasha Banks and Asuka with the two feuding over the WHEI Raw Women's Championship. Much like the Club, Asuka wasn't happy about being left off of SummerSlam, however, she decided to do something about it. The next night on Raw, she vowed to run through the entire Raw women's roster if she had to, turning heel in the process. That night she defended her title against Banks. She lost the title and immediately went on a rampage, attacking everyone in sight until Guardian granted her her rematch at Unforgiven.
Event
Preliminary matches
The event opened with a tag team match pitting the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. Christian & SmackDown Superstar Chris Jericho ('00). Despite dominating the entire match and essentially cutting the ring in half the Usos were defeated when Jericho locked Jimmy in the Walls Of Jericho and the latter submitted to earn the victory.
This was followed by a match between Edge & The Miz, which was a rematch from their previous encounter on the previous Raw where Miz attacked Edge following his victory. After a long back and forth battle in which both men were busted open after hitting their finishing moves Miz hit a Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
After that was a match between the Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) and Savage & Canadian ("Macho Man" Randy Savage & Kevin Owens) for the WHEI Raw Tag Team Championship. After an initially very short match in which the challengers won by count out Raw co-General Managers Juggernaut and Guardian ruled that the match be restarted. After a long, bloody, grueling match, Anderson hit a TKO on Owens to win the match and retain the title for his team.
Then was a match for the WHEI Raw Women's Championship which saw Asuka challenge Sasha Banks. After a great back and forth match with lots of submissions Asuka locked in the Asuka Lock and forced Banks to submit to win the match and the Raw Women's Championship for the second time in her career.
Next was a match between for both the WHEI European Championship and WHEI Intercontinental Championship between Intercontinental Champion and Raw Co-General Manager Juggernaut and Undertaker ('00). In the end, despite being busted open and brutalized, Juggernaut hit the Jackhammer on Undertaker and pinned him to win the match, retain the Intercontinental Championship, and win the European title.
The penultimate match was between Raw co-General Manager Guardian and "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix. In the end despite Guardian's best efforts, which were considerble, including hitting back to back Pumphandle Suplexes, Beth hit the Glam Slam to win the match. Afterward both women shook hands as a sign of respect.
Main event
The main event was for the WHEI Universal Championship with Shinsuke Nakamura defending against Samoa Joe. In a surprisingly short match Joe locked Nakamura in the Coquina Clutch and Nakamura submitted almost immediately to give Joe the win and the title in surprisingly quick fashion.
Results
| No. | Matches | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian & Chris Jericho ('00) def. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) by submission | Tag Team Match |
| 2 | The Miz def. Edge | Singles Match |
| 3 | The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) def. Savage & Canadian ("Macho Man" Randy Savage & Kevin Owens) | Tag Team Match for the WHEI Raw Tag Team Championship |
| 4 | Asuka def. Sasha Banks (c) by submission | Singles Match for WHEI Raw Women's Championship |
| 5 | The Juggernaut (Intercontinental) def. The Undertaker ('00) | Singles Match for the WHEI European Championship and the WHEI Intercontinental Championship. |
| 6 | Beth Phoenix def. Guardian | Singles Match |
| 7 | Samoa Joe def. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) by submission | Singles Match for the WHEI Universal Championship |
| (c) - refers to the champion(s) heading into the event
*- Match card subject to change | ||
European Championship Tournament
| First Round | Semi Finals | Finals |
|---|---|---|
| Randy Orton vs. The Juggernaut | Juggernaut vs. Triple H | Juggernaut vs. Undertaker ('00) |
| Tomasso Ciampa vs. Triple H | ||
| The Miz vs. Edge | Edge vs. Undertaker ('00) | |
| Neville vs. Undertaker ('00) |