Condolences to WWE RAW Superstar Erik

It's been an interesting festive period for Erik, who is commonly known as one-half of The War Raiders on WWE RAW. Erik and Ivar were able to pick up the World Tag Team Championships a few weeks ago whilst taking on The Judgment Day's Finn Balor and JD McDonagh on the red brand. However, it seems that Erik has been handed some tough news over the holidays.

The current champion took to Instagram to reveal that his close friend and "brother" Jax Dane had passed away. Dane was a well-known star in his own right. He was a former NWA Heavyweight Champion. Dane's passing on Christmas Day at the age of 48 came as a huge shock to the wrestling community.

Erik has since shared an emotional message about his friend on Instagram:

"I have no words that can ever come close to explaining what you meant to me and to so many others. “They didn’t know, but we did.” Rest easy, my brother. I will miss you @jax_dane I pray that God grants your family peace," wrote the WWE Superstar.

Erik is expected to be part of WWE RAW on Monday alongside his partner Ivar

The WWE RAW roster hasn't been seen live on TV since Saturday Night's Main Event earlier this month. The last few episodes of the red show were pre-recorded. The RAW stars have been enjoying the festive period with their family, whilst SmackDown will return to work later tonight.

With RAW moving to Netflix, Erik and Ivar are expected to be heavy hitters on the brand heading into WrestleMania given that they hold the World Tag Team Championships. They could continue their feud with The Judgment Day after taking away their titles or face off against other teams.

It will be interesting to see what their route to Royal Rumble looks like, with just five weeks until The Road to WrestleMania officially gets underway on February 1st.