Erik vs. Ivar match led to The War Raiders becoming a tag team (Exclusive)
The War Raiders hold the World Tag Team Championship heading into WrestleMania 41. In an exclusive interview, the two men gave an insight into how their tag team partnership began.
Ivar (then known as Hanson) defeated Erik (then known as Raymond Rowe) in Ring of Honor's Top Prospect Tournament final in 2014. A month later, the imposing duo formed a tag team and initially wrestled under the name War Machine.
Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Erik joked that Ivar likes to remind everyone how their first in-ring encounter ended:
"Well, we had a match in Ring of Honor, the 2014 Top Prospect Tournament. We're not gonna talk about the winner there because Ivar likes to brag about it, and then after that we teamed up the following month and became War Machine. That was 2014, so we're over a decade now of being a tag team. We've gone everywhere together." [1:12 – 1:34]
On April 19, The War Raiders will defend the World Tag Team Championship against The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods at WrestleMania 41. Watch the video above to hear Ivar cut a promo on The Steiner Brothers and Bron Breakker ahead of the event.
Randy Orton, Triple H, and others know about The War Raiders' history
Ivar's victory over Erik took place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
According to Erik, Ivar has told Randy Orton, Triple H, and several others about the time he defeated his War Raiders tag team partner in Pittsburgh:
"Every time we go back to Pittsburgh, he will tell every single person in the building. From the guy sweeping up the floors, to Triple H and Randy Orton, he's telling them, 'Hey, hey, do you know what happened in Pittsburgh? I beat [Erik].'" [1:45 – 1:56]
In the same interview, Erik and Ivar addressed whether they would like to have been managed by Paul Ellering before his WWE departure.
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