In case you didn’t know…
The Viking Raiders’ Erik & Ivar, formerly known as The War Raiders’ Rowe & Hanson, defeated The Metro Brothers on their NXT debut on April 11, 2018.
They went on to defeat tag teams including Heavy Machinery, The Mighty, The Undisputed Era and Aleister Black & Ricochet over the course of the next year, winning the NXT Tag Team titles along the way.
After relinquishing the titles upon their call-up to Monday Night Raw, Erik & Ivar continued to pick up victories during their first three months on WWE’s flagship show, defeating established teams including Lucha House Party, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder and The Club.
Although Ivar lost a one-on-one match against Kyle O’Reilly in NXT in October 2018, Erik remained undefeated on WWE television before his call-up in April 2019.
The heart of the matter
Erik’s undefeated streak came to an abrupt end after Samoa Joe interfered in The Viking Raiders’ 2-on-2 tag team match against Big E & Xavier Woods on Raw, causing the former NXT Tag Team champions to lose via disqualification in a match which lasted just 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
Both Raiders recently failed to win the 50-man Battle Royal at WWE Super ShowDown, but it is worth remembering that WWE did not count Asuka’s Battle Royal loss in her 914-day undefeated streak, so Erik was technically undefeated on television in 446 days prior to Monday’s Raw.
Following Joe’s interference, the 2-on-2 match restarted as a 3-on-3 match, which saw Joe & The Viking Raiders defeat Kofi Kingston, Big E & Woods, but the fact remains that Erik is no longer undefeated.
What’s next?
The Viking Raiders have still not lost via pinfall or submission in a tag team match on WWE television, so expect to see them dismantle more opponents in the weeks to come on Raw.
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