Unforgiven (2008)

Unforgiven
Promotional poster featuring Batista, parodying the movie The Shawshank Redemption
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
ECW
DateSeptember 7, 2008 (2008-09-07)
CityCleveland, Ohio
VenueQuicken Loans Arena
Attendance8,707[1]
Buy rate211,000
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous
SummerSlam
Next →
No Mercy
Unforgiven chronology
← Previous
2007
Next →
Final

The 2008 Unforgiven was the 11th annual and final Unforgiven professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on September 7, 2008, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2009, Unforgiven was replaced by Breaking Point.

Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, which featured a supercard. The three brands, Raw, SmackDown, and ECW, were all represented by their respective Championship Scramble match – a 20 minute time limit bout, during which participants can become the temporary champion via pinfall or submission. The main event of the pay-per-view was the Championship Scramble from the Raw brand. It was originally scheduled to feature World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defending his title; he was replaced by Chris Jericho after Randy Orton attacked CM Punk. Jericho won the match and became World Heavyweight Champion. The Championship Scramble from the ECW brand featured ECW Champion Mark Henry defending, losing the match and title to Matt Hardy. The SmackDown brand's Championship Scramble saw WWE Champion Triple H defeat the other competitors to retain his championship. Another featured match on the undercard was an unsanctioned match, or hardcore match, in which Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho.

The event marked the first time the Championship Scramble format was used by WWE. The event had an attendance of 8,707. The event received 211,000 pay-per-view buys, more than the previous year's event. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of second on Billboard's DVD sales chart. It was also the first and only Unforgiven PPV broadcast in high definition.

  1. ^ "Unforgiven 2008". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved September 26, 2008.