Ivar had neck surgery few weeks back and will be out for close to a year, but now his partner Erik has also undergone surgery; now might be the best time to do it as WWE most likely didn’t have any clear-cut plans for him anyway while his tag team partner was out. WWE has not put the tag team division – men’s or women’s – anywhere near the top of its priority list in the past decade (the last time the tag division received a heavy amount of prominence was about 20 years ago when The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian).
Erik had a surgical screw removed that was protruding into his tricep and causing severe pain. The injury was bothering him for several months, but he put off the surgery and decided to work through the pain until an opening within a framework of The Viking Raiders’ storyline. Unfortunately, Ivar just happened to injure his neck. However, this might have been a blessing in disguise because it opened the door for Erik to have the screw taken out of his arm, which had been bothering him for months.