Raymond Rowe (August 21, 1984) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Erik. He was previously signed to Ring of Honor, where he performed as part of the tag team War Machine alongside Hanson.
Professional wrestling career
Ring of Honor (2013-2018)
After performing for several independent promotions since 2003, 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 Kong in a first round match. After managing to advance to the finals, Rowe ultimately lost the Tournament to Hanson. Despite this, Rowe began performing 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. 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. 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. 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 and Michael Bennett) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Debut (2006)
Rowe debuted in the WWE as early as 2006. His first match was during the June 9 episode of Friday Night Smackdown in a squash match lost to Mark Henry.
NXT (2018–2019)
On January 16, 2018, WWE, via WWE.com, announced that Rowe had signed a contract with the company and would be reporting to the WWE Performance Center. On March 22, Rowe and his longtime tag team partner Todd Hanson debuted in NXT in their first match, defeating Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi. During the April 11 NXT Tapings, Rowe and Hanson debuted their new tag team name War Raiders. They won their debut match under this name, defeating The Metro Brothers (Chris Metro & JC Metro). They won their second tag match during the April 11 tapings, defeating Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight). Two days later during the April 13 edition of NXT, the War Raiders defeated Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan. As of April 13, Rowe wrestles under his solely by his last name. Throughout the months of April, May and June, Rowe and Hanson as the War Raiders, maintained an undefeated streak in tag team competition. Throughout the summer of 2018, the War Raiders remained undefeated. Their first title match was during the September 6 NXT house show, where they defeated the reigning NXT Tag Team Champions and members of The Undisputed ERA Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong. However, due to their disqualification victory, the War Raiders did become new Tag Team Champions. They met in a title rematch held during the September 8 NXT house show, again defeating Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong by disqualification. Their third title match against the Undisputed ERA was held during the September 20 NXT Tapings, during which the War Raiders, once more won by disqualification, preventing them from winning the Tag Team titles. During the October house shows, Rowe established a 2-0 win-loss record, defeating Dan Matha in two consecutive singles matches. During the October 26 house show, Rowe competed in a Fatal Four-Way match against single representatives from rival tag teams. The match was won by Street Profits member Montez Ford. The following month, Rowe and Hanson competed at NXT TakeOver: WarGames II. There, they competed in an eight-man Tag Team War Games match, teaming with Pete Dunne, Ricochet in defeating The Undisputed ERA. The following month, the War Raiders finished the year with 4-0 win-loss record in tag matches during the December house shows. Rowe won a singles victory during the December 14 house show, defeating Brennan Williams.
Returning the following year, Rowe and Hanson were undefeated in tag matches held during the January 2019 house shows. On January 26 at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Rowe and Hanson defeated Undisputed ERA members Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. This victory marked the War Raiders' first title reign in the WWE.
Raw (2019–2021)
Rebranded as The Viking Experience, and using the ring name Erik along with his teammate Hanson rebranded as Ivar, they made their debut during the April 15 episode of Monday Night RAW. There, they teamed with The Revival in an eight-man tag match defeating Aleister Black, Curt Hawkins, Ricochet & Zack Ryder. The team quickly underwent a new rebranding, debuting on the April 29 episode of RAW as The Viking Raiders. During that episode, the Viking Raiders defeated The Lucha House Party. During June and July the Viking Raiders remained undefeated. Their winning streak however, was ended during the July 1 episode of RAW, where they lost a tag match against New Day members Big E & Xavier Woods. Later during the show, the Viking Raiders teamed with Samoa Joe and defeated all three members of The New Day in a six-man tag team rematch.
SmackDown (2021-2023)
Wrestling facts
- Nicknames
- "Mr. Right"
- "Death Rowe"
- Tag teams and stables
- Cleveland Mafia - With J-Rocc & Shane Taylor
- Path Of Resistance - With Jax Dane (As a Tag Team) and Facade, Lamont Williams, Carl Crisis, Conviction, & Josh Prohibition (As a Stable)
- Suplex Machines - With Jason Bane
- War Machine - with Todd Hanson
- The Viking Raiders (WWE) - with Ivar
- Entrance music
- "Am I Evil?" by Metallica
- "Prologue" by Dead to Fall (as part of Path to Resistance)
Championships and accomplishments
- CAPW Championship (1 Time)
- CAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Jason Bane
- Firestorm Pro Wrestling
- Firestorm Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
- IWC World Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
- IWC Tag Team Championship (1 Time) With J-Rocc
- IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Hanson as team War Machine
- NWA Lone Star Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
- NWA Lone Star Tag Team Championship (1 Time) with Jax Dane
- ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Hanson as team War Machine
- VIP Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- VIP Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Hanson as team War Machine
- NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Hanson as the War Raiders
- WCPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Hanson as team War Machine
