Raymond Rowe Sr. (born August 21, 1984) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Erik. He is also known for his work in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

(ROH), where he and his

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

partner Hanson (collectively known as War Machine in ROH) are former

ROH World Tag Team Champions The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion; it is contested for in their tag team division. The championship was created and debuted on September 21, 2002 ...

and

IWGP Tag Team Champions The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. The ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003–2013)

Rowe was trained by Josh Prohibition and Lou Marconi. He debuted on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

in May 2003. On June 9, 2006, episode of ''Smackdown!'', Rowe competed against

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator/analyst, coach, and talent scout. He is b ...

in a losing effort.

Ring of Honor (2013–2017)

Rowe made his

debut on June 1, 2013 in a losing effort against

Bobby Fish Robert Anthony Fish (born October 27, 1976) is an American professional wrestler currently appearing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand and was a member of The Undisputed ...

. Following this, he returned to ROH on January 4, 2014, as part of that year's Top Prospect Tournament and defeated Kongo in a first round match. After managing to advance to the finals, Rowe ultimately lost the Tournament to Hanson. Despite this, Rowe began regularly performing for ROH following the tournament in addition to forming the

War Machine with Hanson on April 4, 2014. In August, Rowe was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and was out of action for several months. On March 1, 2015, Rowe made his return to ROH at the promotion's 13th Anniversary Show by assisting his partner Hanson after the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

main event. On August 22, War Machine defeated

Killer Elite Squad Killer Elite Squad, often abbreviated to K.E.S., was the professional wrestling tag team of Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer. The team made its debut in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion in September 2012 and have since work ...

( Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) in a non-title match and afterwards challenged them to a match for their

GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourn ...

, a title owned by the Japanese

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left th ...

promotion. War Machine received their title shot in Japan on September 19, but were defeated by the Killer Elite Squad. On December 18 at Final Battle, War Machine defeated The Kingdom (

Matt Taven Matthew Marinelli (born March 20, 1985), known by his ring name, Matt Taven, is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer, who currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his work with Ring of Honor (ROH), ...

and Michael Bennett) to win the

ROH World Tag Team Championship The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in the American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches ...

. They lost the title to The Addiction (

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best know ...

and

Frankie Kazarian Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. In addition, Kazarian also performs for Impact Wres ...

) on May 9, 2016, at War of the Worlds. War Machine finished with ROH on December 16, 2017.

Japan (2015–2018)

On September 14, 2015, Rowe and Hanson made their Japanese debuts for

, teaming with

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...

in a six-man tag team main event, where they defeated Suzuki-gun ( Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer and

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a freelancer. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as twice hol ...

). This led to a match five days later, where War Machine unsuccessfully challenged Smith and Archer for the

. In November 2016, War Machine made their debut for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

(NJPW) by entering the 2016 World Tag League. They finished the tournament on December 7 with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. On April 9, 2017, at Sakura Genesis 2017, War Machine defeated

Tencozy Tencozy (occasionally spelled "Ten-Koji") is a professional wrestling tag team that has competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. They are seven-time tag team champions ( six-time IWGP Tag Team Champions and one-time NWA W ...

(

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and th ...

and

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wre ...

) to win the

IWGP Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of the NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on December 12, 1985 at an NJPW live event. ...

. They lost the title to

Guerrillas of Destiny The Guerrillas of Destiny, sometimes shortened to G.O.D., is a professional wrestling tag team and stable which consists of the Tongan-American brothers Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Hikuleo and manager Jado. Tama and Tanga originally began wrestling ...

(

Tama Tonga Alipate Aloisio Leone (born October 15, 1982) is a Tongan-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Tama Tonga (タマ・トンガ　''Tama Tonga''). He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known a ...

and

Tanga Loa Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita (born May 7, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under the ring name Tanga Loa (タンガ・ロア　''Tanga Roa'') (originally Tanga Roa). Fi ...

) on June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, regaining it in a

no disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on July 1 at G1 Special in USA. They lost the title to Killer Elite Squad in a three-way match, also involving Guerrillas of Destiny, on September 24 at Destruction in Kobe.

WWE (2018–present)

On January 16, 2018, WWE announced that Rowe had signed a contract with the company and would be reporting to the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

. On the April 11 episode of ''NXT'', he and Hanson, now called the

War Raiders The Viking Raiders are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Erik (wrestler), Erik and Ivar (wrestler), Ivar, and are managed by Sarah Logan, Valhalla. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...

, made their television debuts, attacking Heavy Machinery (

Otis Dozovic Nikola Bogojevic (born December 21, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Otis. After signing with WWE in 2016, he was assigned to their developmental b ...

and

Tucker Knight Levi Rolla Cooper (born July 24, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Tucker. After signing with WWE in 2013, he was assigned to their developmental brand NXT, und ...

) and the team of Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. On the October 17 episode of ''NXT'', they challenged The Undisputed Era (

Kyle O'Reilly Kyle Edward Greenwood (born March 1, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs under the ring name Kyle O'Reilly. He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2009 to 201 ...

and

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, as the leader of Diamond Mine, but is currently inactive due ...

) for the

NXT Tag Team Championship The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on Januar ...

, but won by disqualification after

attacked them with a steel chair; thus, they did not win the titles. The War Raiders would go on to main event NXT TakeOver: WarGames II, teaming with

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

and Pete Dunne against The Undisputed Era in the

WarGames match WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of either four, five, or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not ...

with The Viking Raiders, Dunne and Ricochet winning the match. At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Rowe and Hanson defeated The Undisputed Era to win the

. They successfully defended their tag team championships at NXT TakeOver: New York against the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black. After having successful defenses with the NXT Tag Titles, both Rowe and Hanson would relinquish the titles after both men believed no team in ''NXT'' could beat them for the titles. During the Superstar Shakeup event, Rowe and his partner Hanson would debut on Raw and be renamed Ivar and Erik. They also would be repackaged with the new name "The Viking Experience". The following week the team was renamed to The Viking Raiders. On the October 14, 2019, episode of ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'' Erik would capture the Raw Tag Team championships alongside his partner Ivar as "The Viking Raiders" by defeating the team of

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw brand. After a prolific career in amateu ...

and

Robert Roode Robert Francis Roode Jr. (born May 11, 1976) is a Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is currently inactive due to undergoing neck surgery. Roode is known for his 12-year tenure for Total Nonsto ...

. At TLC, The Viking Raiders would host an open challenge for the Raw Tag Titles and The O.C would answer the challenge, but the match would end in a

double countout Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. Erik and Ivar would lose the titles to the team of

Seth Rollins Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth Rollins (often referred to as Seth "Freakin" Rollins). Prior to signin ...

and Buddy Murphy on the January 20, 2020, episode of ''

'' after their reign lasted for 98 days. During the summer, The Viking Raiders would feud with The Street Profits which would lead to a match between the two teams at Backlash At the event, the match had never started because both teams would begin fighting in the parking lot and eventually team up as "the Viking Profits" to take out Akira Towzawa and his Ninja's. On September 7 episode ''Raw'', The Viking Raiders teamed up with

Apollo Crews Sesugh Uhaa (born August 22, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Apollo Crews. He started his career in 2009, originally working under the ring nam ...

and

in an eight-man tag team match against The Hurt Business in a losing effort, where

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Alexander worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 until 2016. He started as part of C&C Factory, ...

scored the pinfall over Ricochet. The match was forced to an abrupt ending due to Ivar suffering a legitimate cervical injury during the match. On October 7, Erik would announce that he would be out of action after having surgery on his bicep. On the April 13 episode of ''Raw'', Erik along with Ivar, would return and defeat the team of

and

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name. He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wr ...

. 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 Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

and Omos at Money In The Bank. At the event, The Viking Raiders would be unsuccessful, as Styles and Omos would retain their titles. On the July 19 episode of ''Raw'', The Viking Raiders, alongside

Riddle A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requi ...

, would defeat the team of

John Morrison John Morrison or Morison may refer to: In politics * John Morrison (Manitoba politician) (1868–1930), politician in Manitoba, Canada * John Morrison (Saskatchewan politician) (1872–1950), Canadian Member of Parliament * John Morrison (intelli ...

, AJ Styles and Omos. Later that night, it would be announced that The Viking Raiders would face AJ Styles and Omos for the Raw Tag Titles in a

rematch ''Rematch'' is the first US-released Sammy Hagar compilation album. After Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981, and after Rick Springfield had a hit with the Hagar-penned "I've Done Everything for You", this collection was released to ...

on next weeks episode of ''Raw''. On the July 27 episode of ''Raw'', The Viking Raiders would fail to win the Raw Tag Titles, as Styles and Omos retained. As part of the 2021 Draft, both Erik and Ivar were drafted to the

SmackDown brand SmackDown is a WWE brand extension, brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand ex ...

Personal life

Rowe, along with his teammate

Todd Smith Todd Smith may refer to: People * Todd Smith (musician), American singer, songwriter and guitarist * Todd Smith (politician), Canadian politician * Todd Smith (singer), American vocalist and member of Selah * Todd Smith (wrestler), American wrestle ...

, are adherents to the

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, t ...

lifestyle. During his time with WWE, Rowe began dating fellow wrestler Sarah Bridges (then known as Sarah Logan). The pair were married on December 21, 2018, in a Viking themed wedding. On February 9, 2021, Bridges and Rowe welcomed a son named Raymond Cash Rowe.

Championships and accomplishments

**Anarchy Unified Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **World Hardcore Championship (1 time) *Absolute Intense Wrestling **AIW Absolute Championship (1 time) **J.T. Lightning Tournament (2015) **Gauntlet for the Gold (2006 - AIW Absolute Championship) *Brew City Wrestling **BCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hanson *Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling **CAPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **CAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jason Bane *Firestorm Pro Wrestling **Firestorm Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * International Wrestling Cartel **

IWC World Heavyweight Championship The International Wrestling Council (IWC) World Heavyweight Championship (Campeonato Mundial de Peso Completo de la IWC in Spanish) was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion, Luc ...

( 1 time) **IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with J-Rocc *

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...

) – with Hanson *

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgen ...

Branded Outlaw Wrestling **NWA BOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** NWA BOW Outlaw Championship (1 time) *

Lone Star **NWA Lone Star Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NWA Lone Star Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jax Dane *

Wrestling Revolution **NWA Grand Warrior Championship (2 times) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked 97 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

in 2016 *Real Action Wrestling **Real Action Wrestling Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) – with Hanson *River City Wrestling **RCW Championship (1 time) *VIP Wrestling **VIP Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **VIP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hanson *What Culture Pro Wrestling **WCPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hanson * WWE ** WWE 24/7 Championship ( 1 time) **

( 1 time) – with Hanson **

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship The WWE Raw Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main ro ...

( 1 time) – with Ivar

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erik (wrestler) 1984 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Cleveland Professional wrestlers from Ohio WWE 24/7 Champions NXT Tag Team Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers ROH World Tag Team Champions IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions