12 Ups & 12 Downs For WWE In 2019
5. "The Viking Experience"
Indicative of WWE's repeated failure to perfect the NXT-to-main roster process, The War Raider were victims of the method hitting rock bottom shortly after WrestleMania 35.
Weeks earlier, Triple H had mournfully delivered the news that Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet and Aleister Black were all to debut on Raw before injury to his Champion Ciampa resulted in him claiming back Gargano in the nick of time. A few months later, he'd be permitted to hold on to his entire crew thanks to NXT's move to USA Network. "The Viking Experience" was a sign that it couldn't come soon enough.
Rowe and Hanson were now Erik and Ivar, with a collective label so utterly pathetic that it went viral for all the wrong reasons. Even WWE understood the scale of parody they'd created and scaled it back, but the name surviving as the tandem's finisher ensures the memories won't be left alone.