WWE Superstar Undergoes Surgery

The Viking Raiders are on temporary hold. One half of the heavyweight tag team, Erik, went down with an injury this past September, as he was not cleared to wrestle ahead of a scheduled match on Monday Night Raw. Ever since then, Erik’s tag partner Ivar has operated as a singles competitor, slowly rising the ranks and seemingly setting his sights on the WWE Intercontinental Championship down the line. It remained unknown as to how long Ivar’s singles run would go, as fans expected him to be back in the tag division as soon as Erik became cleared for competition. Based on a recent procedure, that might not be for a while.

Erik of The Viking Raiders Undergoes Surgery

Erik is recovering from neck surgery.

Taking to Instagram, Erik of The Viking Raiders shared that he underwent neck surgery recently to fuse his C6 and C7.

“I cannot express the proper gratitude and thankfulness to the amazing Dr Cordover and his incredible staff at @andrews_sports_medicine and St Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham, AL and to @wwe for always making sure I have the best care possible,” Erik wrote. “C6 / C7 fusion surgery was successful and recovery begins now. I’m excited for all the possibilities once my cybernetic upgrades come fully online.”

Erik has been wrestling since the 2010s. He and Ivar first met each other as opponents in Ring of Honor’s Top Prospect Tournament in 2014, facing off against one another in the finals. Following their match as adversaries, the duo then known as Hanson (Ivar) and Rowe (Erik) joined forces to form a tag team called War Machine.

War Machine went on to dominate the independent circuit and held titles in major promotions like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Their success got them on the radar of WWE, and by 2018 both men were signed to developmental contracts. Hanson and Rowe made their WWE debut for the NXT brand as “War Raiders” and went on to run roughshod on the tag division, eventually capturing the NXT Tag Team Championships. 

Their main roster run started out shaky, as the popular “War Raiders” name was dropped in favor of the critically-panned “Viking Experience.” WWE would tweak the name in the following weeks to “The Viking Raiders.” It wouldn’t take long for Erik and Ivar to find their footing as they would go on to become Raw Tag Team Champions.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Erik’s recovery.