Viking Experience Gets New Name Again

When the War Raiders turned into the Viking Experience, the fan backlash was astronomical. Fans could not comprehend why the WWE would turn a brilliant name like that into one that made zero sense. Even the tag team’s individual names were changed. The backlash from fans was so big, the WWE had to change the name again. For now, the Viking Experience will be known as the Viking Raiders.

Official Announcement From the WWE

The WWE made a semi-official announcement regarding the name change. When looking at the main roster section on the website, the biography of Ivar now mentioned him as a member of the Viking Raiders. The same applies to Erik. The goal of the tag team? World Domination.

Why Was the Name Changed in the First Place

A lot of fans have speculated on the name change since the War Raiders came to the main roster. Among the speculators is former WWE announcer Jim Ross, who claims the name was changed to remove the word “war” from their tag team name.  Despite the many possible explanations for the name change, I tend to be of the same opinion.

Looking at the latest name change of the War Raiders, now known as the Viking Raiders, it would seem the WWE is desperate to leave the word “war” from the name. When you think about it, it is a little ridiculous. The company had no problem organising a pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia shortly after a journalist was murdered on behest of the Saudi Arabia government, who later denied all accountability despite foreign backlash. Still, using the word “war” in a tag team name is just too much for the WWE.

Whenever a tag team comes up from NXT, or an individual wrestler in that regard, my heart sinks. My mind races with ideas about all the ways Vince could ruin a talented superstar or talented superstars by putting his stamp on them. NXT seems to be the creative and fun product to watch, while the main roster has become censored to the hilt. While I have no problems with making a product PG, there is a limit when it comes to the creative liberties of the talent.

Last week, we saw a short segment between Shelton Benjamin and Nikki Cross. The segment was created by the wrestlers in question, with little interference from the WWE itself. Now, the segment was made without the overproduction the WWE implements, and it was great! Vince’s creativity is not working and it is time to realise it. The main roster needs to be creative. If wrestlers were allowed to do more of their own thing, I bet you the product would improve in a dramatic manner. Unfortunately, things are not going to change much over the next couple of years. Let’s just hope the Viking Raiders and other NXT call-ups can survive the onslaught.

What do you think about the new name change? Should the WWE kept War Raiders? Or do you believe leaving the word “war” out of the name was the smartest idea? Let us know in the comment section below.