The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) defeated The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonagh) on the December 16, 2024 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw to win the top prize in the Raw tag team division, the WWE World Tag Team Championship!
Both Erik and Ivar had spent a considerable amount of time on the shelf due to injuries, but made their return in October, rechristened as The War Raiders (their NXT name before they were renamed The Viking Experience, then The Viking Raiders after moving up to the main roster, but not reverting back to Hanson and Rowe). Since then, they've been nearly unstoppable, scoring victories over Alpha Academy, the Latino World Order, The New Day, and two members of The Judgment Day (Carlito and Dominik Mysterio).
War Raiders had an opportunity to win the tag titles on November 25, but failed to win them due to some interference from The Judgment Day getting involved. This helped make the decision to ban them from ringside tonight to make for a more fair contest.
Naturally, that didn't stop them from attempting to cheat, but this time around, when Finn Balor was trying to utilize a steel chair on his behalf, he was held back by rival and former Judgment Day leader Damian Priest. The Archer of Infamy and former world heavyweight champion got a measure of revenge on Balor for having screwed him over twice in matches against Gunther (at WWE SummerSlam 2024 and WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2024).
By stopping that foreign object, the power of The War Raiders was too much for The Judgment Day to overcome, and in the main event of tonight's episode, the vikings finally captured the titles.
Interesting of note is that Ivar hails from Lynn, Massachusetts, and this episode took place at the TD Garden in Boston, MA. Perhaps that was the reasoning for delaying the tag title switch, or just a happy coincidence.
In any fashion, this is the second tag team title reign for Erik and Ivar since joining the main roster. They had previously been NXT tag team champions up until moving over to the Raw brand, relinquishing their titles instead of losing them. Eventually, they captured the Raw Tag Team Championship in October 2019.
What are your thoughts on this tag team title switch? Who do you think can beat The War Raiders? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!