In the main event, Samoa Joe defeated Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, and Bray Wyatt in an Extreme Rules fatal five-way match to earn a Universal Championship match at Great Balls of Fire.

[2] 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 had since used it in place of "hardcore match" or "hardcore rules".

The two then participated in an Intercontinental Championship number one contender's triple threat match, also including The Miz, who won following interference from Samoa Joe, who attacked Rollins, and Bray Wyatt, who performed Sister Abigail on Bálor.

[9][11] On the May 8 episode of Raw, Strowman indicated his desire to face Lesnar for the Universal Title after he was finished with Reigns.

Later that night, Reigns attacked Strowman during his match against Kalisto, targeting his arm with a steel chair.

[13] On the May 1 episode of Raw, Dean Ambrose interrupted an argument between Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor over who should face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

Ambrose criticized Lesnar for not appearing and wrestling often and claimed his Intercontinental Championship to be the top title of the Raw brand.

[10] The following week, Cesaro and Sheamus won a number one contender's tag team turmoil match against Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Heath Slater and Rhyno, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth), for another title opportunity.

[12] The following week, the tag team title match was scheduled for Extreme Rules and Jeff defeated Sheamus.

[13] On the May 22 episode of Raw, Matt faced Sheamus in a match where the winner chose the stipulation for their Extreme Rules tag team championship bout.

[12] On the May 15 episode of Raw, Bayley confronted Bliss and invoked her championship rematch for Extreme Rules.

[16] It was then revealed that Aries and Neville's WWE Cruiserweight Championship bout at Extreme Rules would be a submission match.

[21] On the May 8 episode of Raw, Sasha Banks began a feud with Fox, where the two traded wins over the next couple of weeks.

[14] A mixed tag team match featuring Swann and Banks against Dar and Fox was scheduled for Extreme Rules.

[22] Crews accepted and started displaying attitude and cockiness, which caused his friend Kalisto, who also moved to Raw during the shake-up, to confront him.

[23] During the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show, Kalisto faced Apollo Crews, who was accompanied by Titus O'Neil.

[1] Next, Rich Swann and Sasha Banks faced Noam Dar and Alicia Fox in a mixed tag team match.

[1] After that, Alexa Bliss defended the Raw Women's Championship against Bayley in a Kendo Stick-on-a-Pole match.

Bliss took advantage with more kendo stick shots and performed a Snap DDT on Bayley to retain the title.

[1] In the main event, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Finn Bálor, and Samoa Joe competed in an Extreme Rules match to determine the number one contender against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Great Balls of Fire.

[1] The following night on Raw, Samoa Joe confronted Brock Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman.

[26] Also on the post-Extreme Rules Raw, the other four participants of the fatal five-way were scheduled to face each other in singles matches.

[25] After defeating Heath Slater and Rhyno, new Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus taunted The Hardy Boyz for picking a stipulation that they thought would give them the advantage.

The match ended in a disqualification win for Bliss after she intentionally got Mickie James and Dana Brooke, who were at ringside, to attack her.

[25] The following week, Bayley said in a sit-down interview that she had never been in a match like that before, but she would eventually recapture the Raw Women's Championship.