'It haunts us to this day,' Former WWE champion reflects on being given an ‘AWFUL’ name by Vince McMahon, which got changed in just 2 days

They tried to come up with many names that included ‘Viking,’ but couldn’t legalize any of them due to popular TV shows and football teams. Finally, when Vince decided to keep the name “The Viking Experience,” Ivar felt that no one was satisfied with it. Erik and Ivar requested a name change, and he assured them that if it didn’t work, they would go in a different direction. Thankfully, it was dropped from the website after just two days.

The tag name was so bad, it was awful. It still is, it haunts us to this day. We're listing off these names, we got to Viking Raiders and he stopped us and said, 'Look, this is how we're gonna introduce you to the main roster audience, and if it doesn't work, we'll change it going forward'. Ivar via The Insight

Speaking about their run in WWE, they did find some success, capturing the tag titles on the NXT and Raw brands. However, Erik suffered an injury last year in October and announced that he had undergone a successful neck fusion surgery. Meanwhile, his tag team partner’s setback unexpectedly boosted Ivar’s career, earning him more recognition as a singles superstar.

Ivar provided an update on his tag team partner Erik’s health

The Viking Raiders’ Erik has been out with a neck injury for over 250 days and recently underwent successful neck fusion surgery. Ivar provided an update on when the WWE Universe can expect to see him return to in-ring competition again.

In the same interview, the 40-year-old star stated that the duo met and had a good chat during a meet-and-greet. He disclosed that Erik was waiting to get clearance from doctors so that he could start training again. Much to fans’ disappointment, the heavyweight said that they would have to wait for some more time to see them reunite.

So that I mean, he's doing great, physically great. It's just doctors need to clear him and he needs to get back to in the ring so it'll take some more time. Ivar on Erik’s injury via The Insight

Although Ivar has gotten over with his unbelievable athleticism, he has yet to win his first singles title. He failed to defeat Oba Femi in the heavyweight battle during week 2 of Spring Breakin’. The 40-year-old was drafted to Raw in the recently concluded 2024 WWE Draft.