The event name was established in 2009 however, its theme began with its predecessor, One Night Stand, which was promoted in 20 as an Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion show. The defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which WWE acquired in 2003, originally used the 'extreme rules' term to describe the regulations for all of its matches. The name of the event originally stemmed from most matches being contested under hardcore wrestling regulations with generally one match being an Extreme Rules match, introduced at the 2010 event, although over the years, the amount of hardcore-based matches has decreased, with only one featured at the 2021 event. It is broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and the WWE Network. WWE Extreme Rules is a professional wrestling event produced annually by WWE, a Connecticut-based promotion.
