10 Worst First Days For WWE NXT Call-Ups

9. The War Raiders

Karrion Kross
WWE.com

For the longest time, Triple H cast himself as the babyface equivalent of his own father-in-law in an effort to reframe what the future of WWE might one day look like.

Unfortunately for this pair of former Tag Team Champions, 'The Game's influence was on the wane by April 2019. Or (and from every soundbite you've ever heard about working with Vince McMahon, this feels logical) 'Papa H' didn't pick this particular hill to die on for a couple of his NXT kids.

The War Raiders were at long last getting the call, but taking an L on that big W-word was the least of their concerns. Hanson & Rowe were suddenly Ivar & Erik, and there'd be no raid to join for The Viking Experience.

It was a label so utterly rotten that nobody could possibly concentrate on anything else to do with their debut on the April 15th edition of the show.

It's impossible to summon the details of their opponents or any details of the match (they teamed with The Revival to take on Ricochet, Aleister Black, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, which really shouldn't be so forgettable), but the moniker was so utterly risible that it was uncharacteristically tweaked by the company the following weekend.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett