The Viking Raiders

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Viking Raiders (professional wrestling)" redirects here. For the videogame, see Viking Raiders. For the general use, see Vikings and Longship.
"War Machine (professional wrestling)" redirects here. For another wrestler, see Big Boss Man.
The Viking Raiders
Erik (left) and Ivar (right) in January 2017
Stable
MembersHanson / Ivar
Raymond Rowe / Rowe / Erik
Sarah Logan / Valhalla (valet)
Name(s)The Viking Experience
The Viking Raiders
War Machine[1]
War Raiders[2]
Billed heights6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) – Hanson/Ivar
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) – Rowe/Erik
Combined
billed weight		552 lb (250 kg)
DebutFebruary 22, 2014
Years active2014–present

The Viking Raiders are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Erik and Ivar, and are managed by Valhalla. The team is currently performing in WWE on the Raw brand.

Erik and Ivar were previously known as War Machine and went by the names Raymond Rowe and Hanson respectively. They are known for their time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) under the names, where they won the IWGP Tag Team Championship and the ROH World Tag Team Championship.

Outside of Ring of Honor, they have also worked for multiple independent promotions in the United Kingdom and United States, including

Raw Tag Team Championship in October of the same year.[3]

History

Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2014–2018)

In 2014, Hanson and Rowe participated in the

Undisputed British Tag Team Championship.[12]

On April 9, 2017, at New Japan's

Destruction in Kobe.[16] War Machine finished with ROH at Final Battle on December 15, 2017 and on December 16, 2017. They had their final matches with NJPW on January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12, and January 5, 2018 at New Year's Dash.[17]

WWE

NXT (2018–2019)

On January 16, 2018, Rowe and Hanson signed a contract with WWE and reported to the WWE Performance Center.[18]

During a TV taping before

Aleister Black
.

Raw (2019–2021)

On April 15, 2019, they debuted on

The Street Profits. The match, however, ended in a disqualification after The Forgotten Sons attacked Ivar, followed by an ensuing brawl between the teams.[24]

On the September 9, 2019 episode of Raw in Madison Square Garden, The Viking Raiders saved

Buddy Murphy ending their reign at 98 days.[27] On the May 4 episode of Raw, The Viking Raiders defeated The Street Profits in a non-title match. In the following weeks, The Viking Raiders would feud with The Street Profits as they faced each other in several competitions such as basketball, axe-throwing, golf, bowling, and a decathlon which was later dubbed as the "Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better" series. A running gag in these segments would see the women involved in the competitions flirting with Ivar and ignoring Erik much to his annoyance. The series would end with a 3–3 tie between the Street Profits and The Viking Raiders.[28] This led to a match scheduled between the two teams for the Raw Tag Team Titles at Backlash. However, the match never began as The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders brawled backstage which also saw them work together to fend off Akira Tozawa and a gang of ninjas on motorcycles. The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders continued brawling afterwards until they fell into a dumpster.[29] On the June 22 episode of Raw, The Viking Raiders finally received their Raw Tag Team Title match against The Street Profits where they were defeated.[30] On the September 7 episode of Raw, The Hurt Business defeated Apollo Crews, Ricochet, and the Raiders in an eight-man tag team match, with Alexander scoring the pinfall over Ricochet, with the match being forced to an abrupt ending due to Ivar suffering a legitimate cervical injury during the match.[31][32] On September 14, Ivar underwent successful surgery to repair a neck injury thus rendering him out of action and putting the team on hiatus.[33][34]

After a seven month absence, The Viking Raiders returned on the April 12, 2021 episode of Raw, defeating Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin. On the June 7 episode of Raw, The Viking Raiders would win a battle royal to determine to #1 contenders for the Raw Tag Titles. It would be announced that The Viking Raiders would face the Raw Tag Team champions, AJ Styles and Omos at Money In The Bank.[35][36] At the event, The Viking Raiders would fail to capture the titles, as Styles and Omos retained.[37]

Brand switches (2021–present)

As part of the

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
, but on the March 4 episode of SmackDown they unsuccessfully challenged the Usos for the titles. On the June 24 episode of SmackDown, the Viking Raiders would return with new gear and face paint, being called "The Vicious" Viking Raiders, and would violently attack The New Day and Shanky, turning heel, and began a feud with the New Day ending on the September 2 episode of SmackDown in a Viking Rules Match (No rules, Falls Count Anywhere) which the Viking Raiders won. It was later announced that Erik suffered an injured foot during that match, and will be sidelined indefinitely, putting the team on hiatus.

As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, The Viking Raiders were drafted to the Raw brand.[38]

Championships and accomplishments

War Machine as the IWGP Tag Team Champions
NXT Tag Team Champions

References

  1. ^ "News - ROH Wrestling". www.rohwrestling.com.
  2. ^ "WWE NXT Results for 4/23/19 Johnny Gargano vs Roderick Strong, Street Profits vs War Raiders • Page 2 | Fightful Wrestling". Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  3. ^ Khan, Steve (15 April 2019). "WWE Raw results: The Superstar Shake-up begins". f4wonline.com. Retrieved 16 April 2019. War Raiders are now The Viking Experience. They've also been given new individual names: Erik (Rowe) and... Ivar (Hanson).
  4. ^ Ring Of Honor (2013-12-16). "2014 Top Prospect Tournament: Participant #8". Ring Of Honor.
  5. ^ CageMatch (2014-01-25). "ROH Wrestling's Finest". CageMatch.
  6. ^ "Hanson & Rowe sign with ROH". Ring of Honor. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  7. ^ "Ring of Honor tag team heading to Pro Wrestling Noah". Wrestleview. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-26.
  8. ^ "Great Voyage 2015 in Osaka". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Meltzer, Dave (December 18, 2015). "ROH Final Battle 2015 live results: Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles, Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  10. ^ Johnson, Mike (May 9, 2016). "Bullet Club reigns supreme: ROH War of the Worlds tour coverage from Dearborn, Michigan". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  11. ^ 戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  12. ^ "1/21 Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England: Shibata vs. Riddle, White vs. Stone, Seven vs. Trevor Lee, Scurll vs. ZSJ". 22 January 2017.
  13. ^ a b Rose, Bryan (April 8, 2017). "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Okada vs. Shibata". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  14. ^ Rose, Bryan (June 10, 2017). "NJPW Dominion live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Witner, Arya (July 1, 2017). "NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Rose, Bryan (September 23, 2017). "NJPW Destruction in Kobe live results: Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  17. ^ Elizabeth, Rev Claire (5 January 2018). "NJPW New Year Dash!! results: Surprise!". Cageside Seats.
  18. ^ Clapp, John. "WWE Performance Center signs War Machine". WWE. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  19. Pro Wrestling Sheet
    | Insider Wrestling News and Reports. 2018-04-07. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  20. ^ "WWE: 2019 Superstar Shake-up Summary". Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  21. ^ Powell, Jason (16 April 2019). "Powell's WWE Raw Hit List: Superstar Shakeup night one". prowrestling.net. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  22. ^ https://www.pwinsiderelite.com/article.php?id=125793 [bare URL]
  23. ^ "The Viking Experience is no more". Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  24. ^ "Full Spoilers: NXT Television Tapings from Full Sail for 5/1 | Fightful News".
  25. ^ "WWE Raw live results: Return to Madison Square Garden". 9 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Ziggler and Roode defeated by The Viking Raiders". Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  27. ^ "Rollins and Murphy defeated The Viking Raiders". Forbes. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  28. ^ "WWE Monday Night RAW Results - Backlash Go-Home Show, The Peep Show, Asuka Vs. Charlotte Flair, More". Wrestling Inc. 8 June 2020.
  29. ^ "The Viking Raiders And The Street Profits In Bizarre Segment At WWE Backlash, Montez Ford Reacts". Wrestling Inc. 14 June 2020.
  30. ^ "WWE Raw 6/22/20 Results: 3 Title Matches, While Dolph Ziggler & Rey Mysterio Make Their Raw Returns". Fightful.
  31. ^ "WWE Raw 9/7/20 Results | Fightful News".
  32. ^ "Ivar injured during eight-man tag match on WWE Raw". 7 September 2020.
  33. ^ "Ivar Reportedly Set For Neck Surgery After RAW Injury". 411 Mania.
  34. ^ @Ivar_WWE (September 24, 2020). "Little over a week post surgery, the road to recovery has begun!!! I can't say Thank you enough to everyone for all the love and support, it has been unbelievably humbling. Better, Stronger, Healthier here I come! Two heartsPoultry legSign of the horns" (Tweet). Retrieved September 27, 2020 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ "Viking Raiders Win Battle Royal, Earn RAW Tag Title Shot". Wrestlezone. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  36. ^ "WWE Moves Title Match To money In The Bank". Wrestling Inc. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  37. ^ Chiari, Mike. "AJ Styles, Omos Beat Viking Raiders, Retain Tag Team Titles at Money in the Bank". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  38. ^ "See all the results from the 2023 Draft". WWE. April 28, 2023.
  39. ^ a b "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  40. ^ "ROH Final Battle 2015 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  41. ^ "VIP Limitless « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  42. ^ "WCPW Tag Team Championship". What Culture Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  43. ^ "NXT Tag Team Championship". Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  44. ^ "Raw Tag Team Championship". Retrieved October 14, 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Viking_Raiders&oldid=1219848055"