| War Raiders | |
|---|---|
 Erik (left) and Ivar (right) in January 2017 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Hanson /Ivar Raymond Rowe / Rowe /Erik |
| Name(s) | The Viking Experience The Viking Raiders War Machine[1] War Raiders[2] |
| Billed heights | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) – Hanson/Ivar 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) – Rowe/Erik |
| Combined billed weight | 597 lb (271 kg) |
| Former members | Sarah Logan/Valhalla (valet) |
| Debut | February 22, 2014 |
| Years active | 2014–present |
TheWar Raiders are an Americanprofessional wrestling tag team consisting ofErik andIvar. They are signed toWWE on theRawbrand, where they are former two-timeWorld Tag Team Champions.
Rowe and Smith were earlier known asWar Machine as Rowe worked with his real name, while Smith worked as Hanson. They're known for working inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) andRing of Honor (ROH), where they won theIWGP Tag Team Championship and theROH World Tag Team Championship. Outside of Ring of Honor, they have also worked for many independent promotions in the United Kingdom and United States, includingInsane Championship Wrestling (ICW),Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW),Progress Wrestling (Progress) andPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). War Machine have also competed in Japan forPro Wrestling Noah (Noah). They signed with WWE in 2018 asWar Raiders and began performing on theNXT brand where they won theNXT Tag Team Championshiponce. In April 2019, they were drafted to WWE'sRaw brand, briefly under the nameThe Viking Experience, as Erik (Rowe) and Ivar (Hanson), before being renamedThe Viking Raiders.[3]
In 2014, Hanson and Rowe participated in theTop Prospect Tournament,[4] where they met in the finals. Hanson defeated Rowe to win the tournament.[5] Afterwards, they formed a tag team under the name War Machine. On April 11, Hanson and Rowe both signed contracts with ROH.[6] On August 22, 2015, War Machine defeatedKiller Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. andLance Archer) in a non-title match and afterwards challenged them to a match for theirGHC Tag Team Championship, a title owned by the JapanesePro Wrestling Noah promotion.[7] War Machine received their title shot in Japan on September 19, but were defeated by the Killer Elite Squad.[8] On December 18 atFinal Battle, War Machine defeatedThe Kingdom (Matt Taven andMichael Bennett) to win theROH World Tag Team Championship.[9] They lost the title toThe Addiction (Christopher Daniels andFrankie Kazarian) on May 9, 2016, atWar of the Worlds.[10] In late 2016, War Machine took part inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling's2016 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.[11] Hanson and Rowe debuted for theUnited Kingdom basedRevolution Pro Wrestling in January 2017, unsuccessfully challengingJoel Redman and Charlie Sterling for theUndisputed British Tag Team Championship.[12]
On April 9, 2017, at New Japan'sSakura Genesis 2017, War Machine defeatedTencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan andSatoshi Kojima) to win theIWGP Tag Team Championship.[13] They lost the title toGuerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga andTanga Loa) on June 11 atDominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall,[14] regaining it in aNo Disqualification match on July 1 atG1 Special in USA.[15] They lost the title to Killer Elite Squad in a three-way match, also involving Guerrillas of Destiny, on September 24 atDestruction in Kobe.[16] War Machine finished with ROH atFinal Battle on December 15, 2017 and on December 16, 2017. They had their final matches with NJPW on January 4, 2018, atWrestle Kingdom 12, and January 5, 2018 at New Year's Dash.[17]
On January 16, 2018, Rowe and Hanson signed a contract withWWE and reported to theWWE Performance Center.[18]
During a TV taping beforeNXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Rowe and Hanson debuted under the nameWar Raiders, interfering in a match between Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight andOtis Dozovic) andTino Sabbatelli andRiddick Moss, causing it to end in a no contest. Over the following weeks, they started a winning streak, defeating NXT teams such asThe Mighty and Heavy Machinery. On the October 17 episode ofNXT, they challengedThe Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly andRoderick Strong) for theNXT Tag Team Championship, but won by disqualification afterBobby Fish attacked them with a steel chair; thus, they did not win the titles.[19] War Raiders would go on to main eventNXT TakeOver: WarGames II in Los Angeles teaming withRicochet andPete Dunne againstThe Undisputed Era in theWarGames match. AtNXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Rowe and Hanson defeated The Undisputed Era to win theNXT Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended their tag team championships atNXT TakeOver: New York against the team of Ricochet andAleister Black.
On April 15, 2019, they debuted onRaw asThe Viking Experience, with Rowe and Hanson now calledErik andIvar.[20] This new name was very negatively received on social media.[21]Pro Wrestling Insider reported that another name considered was "The Berzerkers".[22] They teamed withThe Revival to defeat the team of Aleister Black, Ricochet,Curt Hawkins,andZack Ryder. The next week, the team was renamedThe Viking Raiders while their finisher was renamed to "The Viking Experience".[23] They relinquished the NXT Tag Team Championships at the May 1NXT television tapings (aired May 15). After relinquishing the championship, however, The Viking Raiders were challenged to one finalNXT match for the titles by TheStreet 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 ofRaw in Madison Square Garden, The Viking Raiders savedCedric Alexander fromThe O.C., thus turningface once again.[25] On the October 14 episode ofRaw, Erik and Ivar captured theRaw Tag Team Championship fromRobert Roode andDolph Ziggler, becoming the first tag team in history to win tag team championships in ROH, New Japan and WWE.[26] However, they suffered their first loss as a team in WWE atCrown Jewel in atag team turmoil match for the WWE Tag Team World Cup, ultimately losing the last match against The O.C. AtSurvivor Series, they defeated The New Day and The Undisputed Era in a champions triple threat tag team match, scoring Raw's only victory at the event, which was ultimately won by NXT. On the January 20th episode ofRaw they lost the titles toSeth Rollins andBuddy 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 atBacklash. However, the match never began as The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders brawled backstage which also saw them work together to fend offAkira 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 ofRaw,The Hurt Business defeatedApollo 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 ofRaw, defeating Cedric Alexander andShelton Benjamin. On the June 7 episode ofRaw, 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 atMoney In The Bank.[35][36] At the event, The Viking Raiders would fail to capture the titles, as Styles and Omos retained.[37]
In the2021 Draft, The Viking Raiders were drafted to theSmackDown brand. On February 19, 2022 at theElimination Chamber, they were attacked byThe Usos before their match for theSmackDown Tag Team Championship, but on the March 4 episode ofSmackDown they unsuccessfully challenged the Usos for the titles. On the June 24 show ofSmackDown the Viking Raiders would return with new gear and face paint, being called "The Vicious" Viking Raiders, and would violently attack The New Day & Shanky, turning heel, and began a feud with the New Day ending on the September 2 show ofSmackDown in a Viking Rules Match (No rules, Falls Count Anywhere) which the Viking Raiders won. It was later reported that Erik suffered an injured foot in that match, and will be sidelined indefinitely, putting the team on hiatus.
On the April 9, 2024, Ivar returned to NXT to challengeNXT North American ChampionOba Femi for the title but failed to defeat Femi at Week 2 ofSpring Breakin'.[38][39] On the May 14 episode ofNXT, Ivar,Wes Lee andJosh Briggs were victims from a backstage attack by the returningGallus. Ivar would later confirm that he is suffering from a spinal injury.
In October 2024, cryptic messages began airing onRaw featuring Nordic characters that translate to "WAR" to promote the team's return. On the October 14 episode ofRaw, Ivar and Erik returned defeatingAlpha Academy reverting back to theirWar Raiders name and gimmick, re-establishing themselves asfan favourites. They would win the World Tag Team Championship fromThe Judgment Day (Finn Bálor andJD McDonagh) on the December 16 episode ofRaw.[40] At Night 1 ofWrestleMania 41 on April 19, 2025, they lost the titles toThe New Day (Kofi Kingston andXavier Woods), ending their reign at 124 days.[41] On June 2, Valhalla announced that WWE had chosen not to renew her contract.[42]
On the January 31 episode ofAAA, The War Raiders are teased to make their debut 2 weeks later. On the February 2 episode of Raw, they were both attacked byOba Femi.
War Raiders are now The Viking Experience. They've also been given new individual names: Erik (Rowe) and... Ivar (Hanson).
