The event name was established in 2009; however, its theme began with its predecessor,One Night Stand, which was promoted in2005 and2006 as an Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion show. In2007, WWE promoted the show as one of its own regular PPV events but kept the concept of hardcore-based matches. In 2009, WWE renamed One Night Stand as Extreme Rules. The2009 Extreme Rules event was noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology; however, the 2010 event was later promoted as only the second event under a new chronology, one that was no longer a direct continuation of the One Night Stand events.
Starting in 2010, Extreme Rules was moved from June to late April/early May to replaceBacklash as the post-WrestleMania PPV event. For2013, the event replacedOver the Limit as that year's May PPV. After the reinstatedbrand extension took effect in mid-2016, the event returned to the June slot of WWE's PPV calendar in2017 and was held as aRaw-exclusive event. FollowingWrestleMania 34 in 2018, however, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, and Extreme Rules moved to the July slot. For the 2020 edition only, the event was titledThe Horror Show at Extreme Rules. The2021 event was then moved to September, replacingClash of Champions. The2022 event was then moved to October, which was the only time the event was held on a Saturday. It would also be the final Extreme Rules as it was replaced by the reinstatedFastlane in 2023 due to the reduction ofgimmick events (outside ofRoyal Rumble,Elimination Chamber,Survivor Series, andMoney in the Bank.)
From 2005 to 2008,World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) ran apay-per-view (PPV) event entitledOne Night Stand. While originally a reunion show for the defunctExtreme Championship Wrestling promotion, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003, the concept of One Night Stand was that the event featured various matches that were contested underhardcore rules.[1] In 2009, Extreme Rules was established to replace One Night Stand and was initially noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology, with Extreme Rules continuing the concept of featuring hardcore-based matches. However, the2010 event was later promoted as only the second event under a new chronology, one that was no longer a direct continuation of the One Night Stand events. The term "extreme rules" was originally used by Extreme Championship Wrestling to describe the regulations for all of its matches; WWE adopted the term, using it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules".[2][3] In the mid-to-late 2010s, the amount of hardcore-based matches began decreasing, with only one included at the2021 event,[4] however, the2022 event returned to form with all six of its matches contested under hardcore stipulations.[5]
The2009 Extreme Rules pay-per-view was the inaugural event of what became an annualgimmick event for WWE. It was held on June 7, 2009, at theNew Orleans Arena inNew Orleans, Louisiana. To coincide with thebrand extension, in which the roster was divided into brands where wrestlers exclusively performed, the inaugural event featured wrestlers from theRaw,SmackDown, andECW brands—it was the only to feature ECW as the brand disbanded in February 2010.[6] The 2010 event then introduced the titularExtreme Rules match.[7] This year's event also moved Extreme Rules up to the late April/early May slot to replaceBacklash as the post-WrestleMania pay-per-view event.[8]
In April 2011, WWE ceased using its full name with the "WWE" abbreviation becoming anorphaned initialism,[9] and in August, the first brand extension was dissolved.[10] The2013 event then replacedOver the Limit for that year's May PPV.[11][12] Beginning with the2014 event, in addition to traditional PPV, Extreme Rules began broadcasting on WWE's online streaming service, theWWE Network, which launched earlier that year in February.[13] After the2016 event,[14] WWE reintroduced the brand extension in July.[15] Along with this second brand split came brand-exclusive PPVs, thus the2017 event featured wrestlers exclusively from the Raw brand.[16] It would in turn be the only Extreme Rules event during the second brand split to be a brand-exclusive show, as followingWrestleMania 34 the following year, brand-exclusive pay-per-views were discontinued.[17][18] The 2017 event also moved Extreme Rules back to the June slot,[16] however, the2018 event moved Extreme Rules to July.[19] The2019 event was held at theWells Fargo Center inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, the city that was the home of Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1993 to 2001.[20]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, which began affecting the industry in mid-March 2020, WWE had to relocate its programming to abehind closed doors set. Raw and SmackDown's shows were moved to theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida, with no fans in attendance,[21] although in late May, the promotion began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience,[22] which was further expanded to friends and family members of the wrestlers in mid-June.[23] With the change in location and format, WWE titled the 2020 event asThe Horror Show at Extreme Rules.[24] It featured horror-themed matches, including the main event, which was acinematically produced match, a Wyatt Swamp Fight betweenBray Wyatt andBraun Strowman, a hardcore match held at a swamp.[25]
TheSAP Center inSan Jose, California was originally to host the 2020 event, but due to the event's relocation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SAP Center announced that they would instead host the 2021 event.[26] However, due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 event was reported to be broadcast from WWE'sbio-secure bubble, theWWE ThunderDome (introduced in August 2020),[27] but that July date was instead given toMoney in the Bank after WWE announced they would be returning to live touring in mid-July.[28] It was then announced that the 2021 edition, which returned to the event's original name, would instead take place on September 26 at theNationwide Arena inColumbus, Ohio,[29] replacingClash of Champions, which had originally been scheduled for that date and venue.[30] The 2021 event was also the first Extreme Rules to air onPeacock's WWE Network channel, following the merger of the American version of the WWE Network under Peacock in March that year.[31]
In June 2022, WWE announced that the 2022 Extreme Rules would be held on October 8 and return the event to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This marked the first Extreme Rules to be held in October and on a Saturday.[32] The 2022 event would be the final Extreme Rules event, as an event was not scheduled for 2023, with that year's October slot given to a reinstatedFastlane.[33] This came after WWE Chief Content OfficerTriple H stated that he wanted to discontinue some of the gimmick events.[34]
An "Extreme Rules match" is a type of hardcore match in which there are no disqualifications and no countouts and weapons are incentivized, but pinfalls and submissions must take place in the ring; since the acquisition of Extreme Championship Wrestling, WWE has used the "Extreme Rules" term in place of "hardcore". Although the Extreme Rules event was established in 2009, it was not until 2010 when the Extreme Rules match began to be held at the titular event.[7] Only two other Extreme Rules events did not include the namesake match, which were the2011 and2015 events.[35][36]
After being introduced at the 2010 event, the events that included an Extreme Rules match only had one such match on the card. The other matches were another type of hardcore match or just standard rules matches. Some of the other hardcore matches may have technically had the same or very similar rules as an Extreme Rules match, but were not stipulated as such (for example, aNo Holds Barred match, which was held at the inaugural 2009 event).[6] Some Extreme Rules matches had other stipulations applied on top of the Extreme Rules stipulation.
Drew McIntyre (c) vs.Dolph Ziggler for theWWE Championship The Extreme Rules stipulation only applied to Ziggler; McIntyre had to wrestle under regularsingles match rules. Additionally, had McIntyre been counted out of disqualified, he would've lost the title.
