Erik (wrestler) explained

Erik
Birth Name:Raymond Rowe
Birth Date:21 August 1984
Birth Place:Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Children:1
Names:Erik
Raymond Right[1]
Ray Rowe
Raymond Rowe
Rowe
Height:6 ft 1 in[2] [3]
Weight:247 lb
Billed:Cleveland, Ohio
Trainer:Josh Prohibition
Lou Marconi[4]
WWE Performance Center[5]
Debut:May 2003

Raymond Rowe Jr. (born August 21, 1984) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Erik. He is currently out of action due to a neck injury. He performs in a tag team with Todd Smith (best known as Ivar) called The Viking Raiders, managed by his real-life wife, who performs as Valhalla. Rowe is best known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he and Smith (formerly Hanson), then known as War Machine are former ROH World Tag Team Champions and made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where they are former two time IWGP Tag Team Champions, as well as having won tag team championships in various independent promotions across the USA and England.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003–2013)

Rowe was trained by Josh Prohibition and Lou Marconi. He debuted on the independent circuit in May 2003.

On June 9, 2006, episode of Smackdown!, Rowe competed against Mark Henry in a losing effort.

Ring of Honor (2013–2017)

Rowe made his Ring of Honor debut on June 1, 2013 in a losing effort against Bobby Fish. 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 tag team 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.[6] 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 main event.[7] On August 22, War Machine defeated Killer Elite Squad (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, a title owned by the Japanese Pro Wrestling Noah promotion.[8] War Machine received their title shot in Japan on September 19, but were defeated by the Killer Elite Squad.[9] On December 18 at Final Battle, War Machine defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship.[10] They lost the title to The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) on May 9, 2016, at War of the Worlds.[11] War Machine finished with ROH on December 16, 2017.[12]

Japan (2015–2018)

On September 14, 2015, Rowe and Hanson made their Japanese debuts for Pro Wrestling Noah, teaming with Takashi Sugiura in a six-man tag team main event, where they defeated Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki).[13] This led to a match five days later, where War Machine unsuccessfully challenged Smith and Archer for the GHC Tag Team Championship.[14]

In November 2016, War Machine made their debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) by entering the 2016 World Tag League.[15] They finished the tournament on December 7 with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals.[16]

On April 9, 2017, at Sakura Genesis 2017, War Machine defeated Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[17] They lost the title to Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) on June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall,[18] regaining it in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA.[19] 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.[20]

WWE (2018–present)

See main article: article and The Viking Raiders. On January 16, 2018, WWE announced that Rowe had signed a contract with the company and would be reporting to the WWE Performance Center. On the April 11 episode of NXT, he and Hanson, now called the War Raiders, made their television debuts, attacking Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight) and the team of Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. On the October 17 episode of NXT, they challenged The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) for the NXT Tag Team Championship, but won by disqualification after Bobby Fish attacked them with a steel chair; thus, they did not win the titles.[21] The War Raiders would go on to main event NXT TakeOver: WarGames II, teaming with Ricochet and Pete Dunne against The Undisputed Era in the WarGames match with The War Raiders, Dunne and Ricochet winning the match. At, Rowe and Hanson defeated The Undisputed Era to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended their tag team championships at 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 Erik would capture the Raw Tag Team championships alongside his partner Ivar as "The Viking Raiders" by defeating the team of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. 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. Erik and Ivar would lose the titles to the team of Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy on the January 20, 2020, episode of Monday Night Raw 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 Tozawa and his Ninja's.[22] On September 7 episode Raw, The Viking Raiders teamed up with Apollo Crews and Ricochet in an eight-man tag team match against The Hurt Business in a losing effort, where Cedric Alexander scored the pinfall over Ricochet. The match was forced to an abrupt ending due to Ivar suffering a legitimate cervical injury during the match.[23] [24] On October 7, Erik would announce that he would be out of action after having surgery on his bicep.[25]

On the April 13 episode of Raw, Erik along with Ivar, would return and defeat the team of 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.[26] [27] At the event, The Viking Raiders would be unsuccessful, as Styles and Omos would retain their titles.[28] On the July 19 episode of Raw, The Viking Raiders, alongside Riddle, would defeat the team of John Morrison, 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 on next weeks episode of Raw.[29] On the July 27 episode of Raw, The Viking Raiders would fail to win the Raw Tag Titles, as Styles and Omos retained.[30]

As part of the 2021 Draft, both Erik and Ivar were drafted to the SmackDown brand.[31] [32] As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, both Erik and Ivar were drafted to the Raw brand.[33] In October 2023, it was announced that Erik was injured and would not be appearing for the foreseeable future.[34] On November 2, 2023, Erik announced on Instagram that he had undergone successful neck fusion surgery.[35]

Personal life

Rowe, along with his teammate Todd Smith, are adherents to the straight edge lifestyle.[36]

During his time with WWE, Rowe began dating fellow wrestler Sarah Bridges (then known as Sarah Logan and later Valhalla). The pair were married on December 21, 2018, in a Viking themed wedding.[37] On February 9, 2021, Bridges and Rowe welcomed a son named Raymond Cash Rowe.,[38] [39] on April 26, 2024, his wife Rowe, announced her second pregnancy.[40]

Championships and accomplishments

Notes and References

  1. Web site: OWW profile. January 23, 2020.
  2. Web site: Rowe. WWE.
  3. Web site: Raymond Rowe. NJPW.
  4. Web site: Erik « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. www.cagematch.net. January 23, 2020.
  5. Web site: January 16, 2018 . WWE Performance-Center signs War Machine. WWE. January 16, 2018.
  6. Web site: ROH STAR INJURED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT | PWInsider.com. www.pwinsider.com. January 23, 2020.
  7. Web site: COMPLETE ROH 13TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW REPORT: JAY BRISCOE DEFENDS THE TITLE AGAINST THREE TOP CHALLENGERS, SAMOA JOE COMES HOME, ALBERTO EL PATRON GETS HIS SHOT AT THE TV TITLE, THE BUCKS AND REDRAGON RENEW THEIR FEUD, AND MUCH MORE | PWInsider.com. www.pwinsider.com. January 23, 2020.
  8. Web site: Ring of Honor tag team heading to Pro Wrestling Noah. August 26, 2015. August 26, 2015.
  9. Web site: Great Voyage 2015 in Osaka. September 19, 2015. Pro Wrestling Noah. ja. September 15, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150915024311/http://www.noah.co.jp/tour_detail.php?tour_id=1450. dead.
  10. Web site: ROH Final Battle 2015 live results: Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles, Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish. Meltzer. Dave. Dave Meltzer. December 18, 2015. December 19, 2015. Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  11. Web site: Bullet Club reigns supreme: ROH War of the Worlds tour coverage from Dearborn, Michigan . Johnson . Mike . May 9, 2016 . May 9, 2016 . Pro Wrestling Insider.
  12. Web site: Three new signings expected in new year . Johnson . Mike . December 19, 2017 . December 19, 2017 . Pro Wrestling Insider.
  13. Web site: http://noah.co.jp/result.php?tour_id=1487 . ja:Shiny Navig.2015～第9回日テレG+杯争奪ジュニア・ヘビー級タッグリーグ戦～ . December 7, 2016 . . ja . February 9, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180209122215/http://noah.co.jp/result.php?tour_id=1487 . dead .
  14. Web site: Great Voyage 2015 in Osaka . December 7, 2016 . . ja . September 27, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170927112308/http://www.noah.co.jp/result.php?tour_id=1450 . dead .
  15. Web site: http://www.njpw.co.jp/61849 . ja:『World Tag』“初出場”外国人チーム決定!! ROHから“凶獣”ウォー・マシンが参戦！WLWからブライアン・ブレーカー＆リーランド・レイスもエントリー！【WT16】 . November 4, 2016 . December 7, 2016 . . ja.
  16. Web site: http://www.njpw.co.jp/tornament/13461?showResult=1 . ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016 . December 7, 2016 . . ja.
  17. Web site: NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Okada vs. Shibata . Rose . Bryan . April 8, 2017 . April 9, 2017 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  18. Web site: NJPW Dominion live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega . Rose . Bryan . June 10, 2017 . June 11, 2017 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  19. Web site: NJPW G1 Special live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody . Witner . Arya . July 1, 2017 . July 1, 2017 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  20. Web site: NJPW Destruction in Kobe live results: Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson . Rose . Bryan . September 23, 2017 . September 24, 2017 . Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  21. News: 2018-04-07. War Machine Debut New Name at NXT TakeOver Pre-Show Taping. en-US. Pro Wrestling Sheet Insider Wrestling News and Reports. 2018-04-08.
  22. Web site: Terror. Jude. 2020-06-14. Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders: WWE Backlash Live Results. 2021-07-17. Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. en.
  23. Web site: WWE Raw 9/7/20 Results | Fightful Wrestling. www.fightful.com.
  24. Web site: Ivar injured during eight-man tag match on WWE Raw. September 7, 2020. WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results.
  25. Web site: Erik Out Of Action After Undergoing Surgery Today. 2021-07-18. Wrestling Inc.. October 6, 2020 . en-US.
  26. Web site: 2021-06-07. Viking Raiders Win Battle Royal, Earn RAW Tag Title Shot. 2021-07-17. Wrestlezone.
  27. Web site: WWE Moves Title Match To money In The Bank. 2021-07-18. Wrestling Inc.. July 12, 2021 . en-US.
  28. Web site: Chiari. Mike. AJ Styles, Omos Beat Viking Raiders, Retain Tag Team Titles at Money in the Bank. 2021-07-19. Bleacher Report. en.
  29. Web site: WWE Announces Title Match For Next Week's RAW. 2021-07-20. Wrestling Inc.. July 20, 2021 . en-US.
  30. Web site: 2021-07-27. WWE Raw Results (7/26) - Raw Tag Team Championship - AJ Styles and Omos (c) Defeated The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) by Pinfall via 450 Splash; Veer w/Jinder Mahal Defeated Drew McIntyre by Disqualification. 2021-07-29. The Overtimer. en-US.
  31. Web site: See all the results from the 2021 Draft.
  32. Web site: 10/4 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the WWE Draft night two, Goldberg returns, the build to WWE Crown Jewel continues. October 4, 2021. Powell. Jason. Pro Wrestling Dot Net. October 5, 2021.
  33. Web site: See all the results from the 2023 Draft. WWE. April 28, 2023.
  34. Web site: Erik Sidelined Due To Injury ‘For The Foreseeable Future’. Wrestling Headlines. October 3, 2023.
  35. Web site: Erik Of WWE's Viking Raiders Announces He Has Undergone Neck Fusion Surgery. Wrestlinginc. November 2, 2023. January 25, 2023.
  36. Web site: March 18, 2018. EXCLUSIVE: Thrown Together, War Machine Reach Championship Success. John . Moorehouse. July 29, 2017. Fightful.com.
  37. Web site: Satin. Ryan. Ryan Satin. NXT Wrestler Sarah Logan And Raymond Rowe From War Machine Got Engaged (Photos). October 27, 2017. June 7, 2018. Pro Wrestling Sheet.
  38. Web site: After 44 hrs of labor He was worth every second. Raymond Cash Rowe 8lbs 11oz. 21.75. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CLE-lEBJISw . 2021-12-23 . subscription. Instagram.
  39. Web site: Lambert. Jeremy. Sarah Logan And Erik (Raymond Rowe) Welcome A Baby Boy Into The World. February 9, 2021. Fightful.
  40. Web site: Valhalla (Sarah Rowe) Announces She Is Pregnant With Second Child. WrestleZone.com. EN. April 26, 2024. April 27, 2024.
  41. Web site: ACW Unified Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Kreikenbohm. Philip. www.cagematch.net. March 25, 2017.
  42. Web site: Show results – 12/17/06 AIW in Cleveland, Ohio. AIW. November 10, 2014. September 3, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180903020431/http://www.aiwrestling.com/results/2006/2006_12_17_gauntletforthegold2.html. dead.
  43. Web site: Show results – 5/23 AIW J.T. Lightning Tournament Night 2 in Cleveland, Ohio: Samoa Joe wrestles post-NXT debut, Ray Rowe wins, more. May 24, 2015. May 24, 2015. Pro Wrestling Torch.
  44. cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=13212
  45. Web site: Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling. May 13, 2023 . onlineworldofwrestling.com.
  46. Web site: Solie's Title Histories: IWC - INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING CARTEL. www.solie.org. January 23, 2020.
  47. Web site: Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database. wrestlingdata.com. January 23, 2020.
  48. Web site: HAAS BACK IN THE RING, HEADLOCKED UPDATE, LES THATCHER, SUNNY, NECW ANNIVERSARY NEXT WEEK AND MORE NEWS - PWInsider.com. www.pwinsider.com.
  49. Web site: Lone Star Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. www.cagematch.net. January 23, 2020.
  50. Web site: Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016. September 1, 2016. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  51. cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=171376
  52. cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=3927
  53. Web site: VIP Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Philip. Kreikenbohm. www.cagematch.net.
  54. Web site: VIP Limitless « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Philip. Kreikenbohm. www.cagematch.net.
  55. Web site: WCPW Tag Team Championship. October 3, 2017. What Culture Pro Wrestling. July 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710190022/https://wc.pw/title/wcpw-tag-team-championship. dead.
  56. Web site: WWE 24/7 Championship. WWE.com. November 10, 2020.
  57. Web site: NXT Tag Team Championship. WWE. April 2, 2020.
  58. Web site: Raw Tag Team Championship. WWE. April 2, 2020.

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