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EXTREME RULES 2021

Extreme Rules is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It is scheduled to take place on September 26, 2021, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It will be the 13th event under the Extreme Rules chronology and the first to be held in September. The event was originally scheduled to be held at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, but was relocated due to issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

WWE

Brand(s)

Raw

SmackDown

2021

City

Arena

PRODUCTION
BACKGROUND

Extreme Rules is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE since 2009. The concept of the show is that the event features various matches that are contested under hardcore rules and generally features one Extreme Rules match.[1] 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; WWE adopted the term and has since used it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules." The 2020 event was titled as The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, but the title returned to "Extreme Rules" for 2021. The 2021 event will be the 13th event under the Extreme Rules chronology and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.[2]

The 2020 Extreme Rules event was originally to take place at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, but had to be relocated to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SAP Center put out an official statement that they would instead host the 2021 event. The venue also announced that there would be no refunds (unless a new date was not determined within 60 days), but tickets purchased would be honored for the following year's event.[3] However, in May 2021, it was reported that due to the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 event would be held on July 18 from the WWE ThunderDome bio-secure bubble at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida,[4] but after WWE announced that they would be resuming live touring in mid-July, that date was instead given to Money in the Bank.[5] On July 9, 2021, WWE then announced that Extreme Rules would be held on September 26 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio,[2] which were the initial reported date and venue for Clash

STORYLINE

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[7][8] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[9]

At SummerSlam, Bianca Belair was originally set to defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Sasha Banks. However, Banks was unable to appear for unknown reasons. Carmella was then announced as Banks' replacement. Before the match could begin, however, Becky Lynch, in her first appearance since the Raw after Money in the Bank in May 2020, made a surprise return, attacked Carmella, challenged Belair, and subsequently defeated her in 26 seconds to win the title.[10] On the following SmackDown, Belair challenged Lynch to a rematch, however, Lynch refused. Belair then won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender.[11] The following week, Belair challenged Lynch to a match for that night, but Lynch again refused, stating she would defend the title when she was ready. Later backstage, WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville told Lynch that she would defend the title against Belair at Extreme Rules.[12]

On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, after Roman Reigns declined John Cena’s challenge to a match for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, Finn Bálor challenged Reigns for the title at the event, which Reigns accepted.[13] During the contract signing, however, an altercation occurred, resulting in Cena signing the contract and becoming Reigns' opponent at SummerSlam[14] where Reigns retained.[10] Bálor then got his opportunity at the title on the September 3 episode of SmackDown, but he was unsuccessful.[12] A rematch between the two for the Universal Championship was scheduled for Extreme Rules.[15] On the September 10 episode, it was revealed that Reigns would be facing Bálor's alter ego, "The Demon" after he came out, confronting Reigns at the end of the show, after he accepted the returning Brock Lesnar's challenge.[16]