The event was originally scheduled for May 1, 2016, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois (which would have been the third Extreme Rules held there after 2012 and 2015); however, on February 23, it switched dates and venues with Payback.

[11] The tag team tournament to determine the #1 contender match for the WWE Tag Team Championship culminated at Payback, in a match pitting The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, which ended in a no contest after Enzo Amore suffered a legit concussion.

[9][12] On the following night on Raw, The Vaudevillains were awarded a title match against WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) at Extreme Rules.

[13] On the May 2 episode of Raw, Rusev won a battle royal, last eliminating Zack Ryder, to earn a title match against United States Champion Kalisto at Extreme Rules.

[11] At WrestleMania 32, Kevin Owens lost the Intercontinental Championship to Zack Ryder in a seven-man ladder match that also included Sami Zayn and The Miz.

[14] The next night on Raw, The Miz won the Intercontinental Championship after his wife Maryse distracted Ryder.

[15] On the May 9 episode of Raw, Shane and Stephanie McMahon scheduled a triple threat title match at Extreme Rules between Owens, Miz and Cesaro.

[19] After that, The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch).

A distracted Natalya broke the hold and was attacked by Charlotte, who applied the Figure Eight Leglock to retain the title.

[19] In the main event, Roman Reigns faced AJ Styles in an Extreme Rules Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch said that it was "unfortunate there were so many finisher kick-outs on this show, but that seems to be the trend these days".

Caldwell rated the four-way match the best of the show at 4.5 stars out of 5, commenting that "strong build-up" resulted in a "strong title match", with further positives including that the "Owens-Zayn feud was enhanced, Cesaro's amazing in-ring skills were captured, and Miz's post-Mania resurgence continued".

The review deemed the four-way as "one of the matches of the year" that highlighted the Miz as a "crafty champion" with "all his underhand tactics" en route to retaining the title, as well as the "hatred that remains between Zayn and Owens".

The main event was deemed "brilliant" and an "epic battle", leading to the show ending with Rollins' "long-awaited return" as the crowd erupted into cheers - this was contrasted with Reigns' "frosty reception".

The Asylum "match slowed down too often whenever either man tried to get a new weapon", with de Menezes hoping Jericho and Ambrose's "drawn out rivalry" ended at Extreme Rules.

For the tag title match, the Vaudevillains "put in their best performance to date since moving up to the main roster".

Finally, Rusev, Anderson and Gallows dominated their respective matches, while Baron Corbin provided "a show of brute strength and craftiness".

The Asylum match "didn't have much heat for a long time" and was "hurt following such a great" four-way.

[21] Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone criticized Extreme Rules as most of its match "outcomes were far from shocking"; also, it had a "dated" title and for "its namesake stipulation" failed to "really lord its influence over the card".

Herzog highlighted the Asylum match as a "prop-comedy disaster" that was "unsurprisingly, utterly inane", but it was "Jericho, tacks and all, who rescued this clunker from meaninglessness by giving it his unquestioned all".

Another disappointment was the women's match for having a "bizarre, forced finish", as Brooke's "arbitrary shift in allegiances rings pretty hollow".

Meanwhile, the finish of the tag title match was "a bit cockamamie, and the opening tornado-rules contest was ho-hum".

Herzog still found positives in the show: the four-way was "perfect" with a "multitude of near-falls and clever finish" while everyone gave their "best".

Also, AJ Styles, "more than any other latter-career migrant to Vince McMahon's big top, has expeditiously qualified himself as a main-eventer", having displayed "world-class" skills in the ring and taken "some Hall of Fame bumps".

[23] Having returned from injury, Seth Rollins set his sights on regaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

[24] A night after failing to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, AJ Styles on Raw split from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, which they did not take with appreciation, and later failed to qualify in the Money in the Bank ladder match by losing to Kevin Owens.

A week later, on the May 30 episode of Raw, Styles welcomed back the returning John Cena when Gallows and Anderson appeared to challenge the two to a fight.