About the best thing you can say for Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode in their battle with The Viking Raiders is that they didn’t lose the Raw Tag Team Titles. Mercifully, their bout against Erik & Ivar was a non-title affair, but that didn’t stop the former NXT Tag Team Champions from treating the champs like their own personal, Ren Faire-themed punching bags from the word “go.” By the end of the match, Ziggler & Roode were looking like they only remained champions by the grace of Odin, and given Erik & Ivar’s long, long resume, even that grace seems like it’s eventually going to have a breaking point.
Before then, however, the Raiders were happy to settle for breaking the champs themselves. Ziggler & Roode wisely tried to outmaneuver their opponents, having seen The O.C.’s unsuccessful attempts to outpower them. They certainly had their moments of control and had one or two opportunities to claim the win, most notably when Roode and The Showoff combined for a spinebuster and Zig Zag, respectively. But they could only stave off the inevitable for so long. After Erik escaped the Glorious DDT and leveled Roode with a fist to the jaw, he reached Ivar on the apron, and the pair executed the Viking Experience on Ziggler in short order. It's been said for months that The Viking Raiders are Raw Tag Team Champions in waiting, and this victory is only likely to intensify those predictions. After all, Erik & Ivar seem to have become the most dangerous kind of tag team in WWE: One that recognizes opportunities and converts on them without exception.