In an ongoing battle to establish dominance on Raw, Erik & Ivar go to war with Gallows & Anderson.

It’s been a few weeks since The Viking Raiders and The O.C. got into it during the biggest Tag Team Turmoil Match in Raw history, costing each other a Raw Tag Team Title Match in the process. Ever since then, the two teams have been slugging it out, but this week’s Raw brought the first official two-on-two bout between the former NXT and Raw Tag Team Champions since that moment, and the biggest victory yet for Erik & Ivar.

Clearly, the insurgent pair had not just been feasting on locals only for the fun of it; their wild, hybrid offense is so fine-tuned at this point that Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson were struggling to find answers from the start. AJ Styles’ ejection from ringside didn’t improve the good brothers’ odds much (adding insult to injury, The Phenomenal One was ambushed atop the ramp by his rival, Cedric Alexander), and an MVP-level performance by the fleet-footed Erik turned the tide permanently in the Raiders’ favor.

The brothers staved off defeat for a little while longer with a last-gasp effort, but Erik & Ivar got their man all the same. After administering the Viking Experience to Anderson, Ivar made the cover while Erik took flight with a suicide dive to take out Gallows on the outside, guaranteeing his team got the three. It seems odd to call this a statement victory given what The Viking Raiders have been doing for the last few months, but there is a difference between taking out locals and toppling a world-traveled tag team. Consider this, then, a belated — but no less ominous — planting of the flag.