Extreme Rules: The Horror Show

Extreme Rules is an annual gimmick pay-per-view 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 originally used the "extreme rules" term to describe the regulations for all of its matches. WWE uses the term in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules". The 2020 event will be the twelfth event under the Extreme Rules chronology and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. The event was also titled Extreme Rules: The Horror Show, making it the first Extreme Rules pay-per-view to have a subtitle.

Since March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE has had to present the majority of its programming from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance, though in late May, the promotion began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience, which was further expanded to friends and family members of the wrestlers in mid-June. Extreme Rules was scheduled to take place on July 19 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.[2] However, on March 17, Santa Clara County issued an indefinite stay-at-home order,[3][4] followed by the entire state of California on March 19.[5][6][7] The SAP Center then put out an official statement in late June that they would not be hosting the event, but a future WWE pay-per-view event would be held there in 2021. The venue also announced that there would be no refunds (unless a new date is not determined within 60 days), but tickets purchased for the 2020 Extreme Rules event would be honored for the event in 2021.[8]

The show 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,[9][10] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[11]

On the June 22 episode of Raw, Dolph Ziggler, who was traded to Raw, interrupted WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Noting that McIntyre needed an opponent at Extreme Rules, Ziggler stated that he wanted to face McIntyre for the title. Ziggler then brought up their history together and stated that McIntyre would not be where he was now had it not been for Ziggler. McIntyre accepted the challenge for Extreme Rules.[12]

On the June 22 episode of Raw, after successfully retaining the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, co-champion Sasha Banks, although a SmackDown wrestler, issued a challenge to Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship, which Asuka accepted and was scheduled for Extreme Rules.[12]

On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Cross attacked WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks, leading to a match between Cross and Banks, which Cross lost.[13] The following week, Cross won a fatal four-way match, which also involved her own tag team partner Alexa Bliss, to earn a SmackDown Women's Championship match against Bayley at Extreme Rules.[14]

At Money in the Bank, Braun Strowman retained the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt.[15] Wyatt returned on the June 19 episode of SmackDown in a Firefly Fun House segment. Strowman interrupted, stating that Wyatt had his chance at Money in the Bank but failed. Wyatt stated their rivalry was just getting started before appearing as his old cult leader persona of The Wyatt Family. Wyatt stated that since he created Strowman, it was his job to destroy him.[13] The following week, Strowman recounted how he initially joined Wyatt and recited a story about their time at a swamp. Strowman then challenged Wyatt to return to the swamp for a fight, and a non-title match between the two called the Wyatt Swamp Fight was scheduled for Extreme Rules.[14]