WWE Extreme Rules was an annual professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based promotion. It was broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE's livestreaming services. The name of the event stemmed from various matches on the card being contested under hardcore wrestling regulations with generally one match being an Extreme Rules match, which was introduced at the 2010 event. 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.