Ric Flair and Batista vs. Chris Benoit and William Regal is our opener. It is telling that, on commentary, there's little mention of Benoit's World Heavyweight Championship reign and much more emphasis on the greatness (and cunning) of Evolution. I had no idea that William Regal was ostensibly a babyface around this time? The match itself is what one would expect to see out of two world class workers in Benoit and Regal, a still-a-bit green Batista, and Ric Flair, the showman who, by this point, seemed most interested in just getting his schtick in rather than working a hard-hitting, logical athletic contest. There are times when it seems like Flair basically stops the match so that he can force a Flair Flop in or do a trademark cut-off via low blow or eye poke. Its a shame too because Benoit and Regal's work is damn good throughout and seeing them beat the hell out of Flair only for Batista to come in and even the odds through sheer power is a perfectly fine story to tell. Not a bad match, but not as good as it could've been if Flair's need to "get his shit in" wasn't so blatant at times. (2.5/5)
Trish Stratus defended her Women's Championship against Victoria next. The story going into this match was that Stratus was still attached to Christian, who forbade his right-hand man, Tyson Tomko, from accompanying her to ring...until Trish convinced Tomko backstage before the match using her feminine mystique. Victoria, meanwhile, was getting assisted in her matches by a mystery woman around this based on the commentary. Stratus and Victoria don't have a perfect match, but there are some highlights here - an awesome gutbuster by Victoria early on, some stiff strikes from both women - and I like that this match does come across as being a big deal for a major championship. Again, there's some sloppiness/slow motion moments on display that are noticeable, but hey, its not like Charlotte Flair doesn't have a terrible moonsault herself or there haven't been times when Bayley has looked awkward in the ring either. The worst part of this match was really the finish, which saw Tomko get involved after Victoria inexplicably thought she could neutralize him in any way (which was unnecessary because he was barely getting involved beforehand). (2.5/5)
After the Stratus/Victoria match, Tyson Tomko raises Victoria up in a choke (which is kinda shocking considering we rarely get anything even resembling man-on-woman violence in today's WWE) but is saved by the aforementioned mystery woman - who ends up being Stevie Richards. They have an impromptu match that goes way, way too long despite probably running only 5-6 minutes. Richards gets beat up for most of it and Tomko is just not an entertaining ass-kicker. When Richards does finally fight back, his offense is sharp (I love the dropkicks he throws) and the crowd rallies behind him before he gets cut off and eats Tomko's finish. This should've been a segment on RAW rather than a "match." (0.5/5)
When Edge vacated the Intercontinental Championship, it was put up for grabs in our next contest - a ladder match between Chris Jericho and Christian, who had feuded extensively in the build-up to WrestleMania XX (where Christian defeated Y2J and Trish turned heel on the smitten Ayatollah of Rock n' Rolla). By this point, the feud had been over and done with - partially due to Christian suffering an injury in May that kept him out of action through the summer - but with Edge injured, it only made sense for Christian and Jericho to have one last clash. There is much to love in this match as Christian and Jericho go for broke from start to finish, delivering some devastating offense and taking some crazy ladder bumps. I love Christian hitting the Unprettier on the floor. I love Christian dangling from the belt and taking a big fall to the ring. I love Christian running face-first into the ladder off an Irish whip. Hell, I love Christian and this is the type of performance that explains why so many fans were clamoring for him to get a major push as a top heel in 2005. Jericho is no slouch either and the crowd is clearly in his corner, though I found the finish lackluster, a disappointing ending to a match that was otherwise thrilling and featured a variety of fun moments (though some were undeniably "repeats" from previous ladder matches these two had been a part of). (3.5/5)
After a segment backstage, Kane takes on Shawn Michaels in a No DQ match. The story coming into this is all about Kane being an absolutely evil psychopath who had forced his way into a marriage with Lita (and impregnated her by putting a pinhole in a condom). It was a disgusting storyline, though not necessarily out of character for Kane in the mid-00s. Because they were married, Lita somehow got to pick Kane's next opponent and she picked HBK because he'd been put on the shelf for 3 months by the Big Red Machine. I wish they would've at least mentioned that Shawn was around when Kane debuted in 97' as that might've made for an interesting wrinkle, but the focus was really on the Kane/Lita/Matt Hardy situation more than anything. Anyway...Kane and Shawn get plenty of time and they even have a stipulation to work with, but this match essentially proves that Kane was just not a very interesting worker. He doesn't blow any spots or ever look lost - there is no denying his competency - but when people argue that Kane was never "put in a position to have good matches," I'd point to this one as an example where even Shawn Michaels, who arguably carried much less experienced/less capable workers (Shelton Benjamin, Chris Masters, even Hulk Hogan in 2005) to thrilling matches couldn't manage to pull anything better than average out of Kane. I can understand wanting to limit the weaponry after the ladder match that came before this (and also to save some big spots for the main event), but this is Shawn pinballing around and Kane just being his normal (often boring) self. Again, the argument that Kane wasn't "put into position" to have good matches just doesn't hold water when the guy had more than enough 10+ minute matches with Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Triple H, and Chris Jericho over the years...and only one or two of em' are any more memorable than this match against Shawn Michaels (who was certainly not yet in any sort of decline at this point). I like that Lita was involved in the finish and one has to give credit to Shawn for his bladejob and how much he did to put over Kane as a monster (even his eventual win doesn't seem definitive as he quickly gets out of the ring before Kane can exact any revenge). Still, this is was maybe only slightly above average despite getting plenty of time, having a stipulation that should've allowed for some creative spots, and a hot (albeit disgusting) storyline coming into it. (3/5)
La Resistance (Sylvan Grenier and Rob Conway) defend the WWE Tag Team Championships against Rhyno and Tajiri next. This was designed to be a "cool down" match, but everyone works hard. Rhyno and Tajiri are both fun and get some moments to shine, though the crowd is clearly indifferent to most everything until the final few minutes when things get more exciting building to the finish. An unremarkable match - not good, not bad, just kinda there and maybe a touch too long. (2/5)
Main event time - Randy Orton defending the World Heavyweight Championship against his former stablemate, Triple H. Triple H's promo before the match goes very long for being a backstage segment and then we get a video recap of their feud. The commentators make a big deal about Orton doing "what Triple H couldn't" and beating Chris Benoit. The story of the match is that Triple H is targeting Orton's knee, using Flair's figure four to try to beat Orton into submission. Orton rallies, though, and Triple H ends up doing a bladejob to try to give this match some much-needed heat. The crowd is behind Orton for the most part, but this is a Triple H-dominated contest and its clear he's setting the pace (methodical) and basically guiding Orton through a rather generic title match. Eventually we get a ref bump and Evolution interfering, this match needlessly overbooked. The crowd is not happy about the title change, but based on this outing, its not like Orton was ready to be the top guy yet either. (2.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.36-out-of-5, Unforgiven 2004 is not a show I'd consider "must see." As it only features performers from the RAW brand, it doesn't offer the full scope of talent that the WWE had on its roster at the time either (Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Angle, Undertaker, and a young John Cena were on the Blue Brand). The Jericho/Christian match is the only bout worth seeking out at all if you're a fan of either performer, Stratus and Victoria over-deliver, and the opener is a fine tag match. Kane/Michaels might be one of Kane's better matches, but that's mostly because his resume has so few matches that are above-average. The main event is nothing special.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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