WWE spent weeks building the rematch between Jeff Hardy and Sheamus on television. Sheamus earned a victory over Jeff Hardy in the Backlash pay-per-view event.
As part of the ongoing storyline where WWE is using Hardy’s alcohol problems, WWE booked a bar fight between the former WWE champion and Sheamus.
Although WWE never confirmed the match for Extreme Rules, many people, including the media, believed that WWE would make the match official during the Friday episode of SmackDown for Extreme Rules.
However, during a behind-the-scenes segment, Sheamus attacked Hardy and told him he would see him next week on SmackDown. Therefore, the match does not take place at Extreme Rules as originally believed.
In this same episode of SmackDown, WWE added Big E and Kofi Kingston against Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro in a draw match for the SmackDown tag team titles at Extreme Rules.
Although this has not been confirmed, it is speculated that WWE decided to move Bar Fight from the extreme rules to SmackDown as a way to help SmackDown audience numbers, who have been struggling.
It was reported this week that this is the same reason WWE saved Big Show vs. Randy Orton in an unauthorized match for Raw on Monday.
