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What's the story?
Over one year after his NXT debut, The Viking Raiders' Erik lost for the first time on WWE television when he and Ivar were defeated by The New Day in acrimonious circumstances on the July 1 episode of Raw.
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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