Ivar Explains Why He Didn't Want To Be Called Erik In WWE

WWE's Ivar has explained why he didn't want to be named Erik and pleaded with his tag team partner to take up the name.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on "Insight," Ivar said that former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon didn't care who was called Erik or Ivar when the Viking Raiders debuted on the main roster.

"So he [McMahon] didn't care which one of us was which, so we get to talk to him and I looked at Ray (Erik) at the time and I'm like, 'Ray, I can't be my brother's name going forward because my brother's name is Erik. E-R-I-K, spelled exactly the same, please, please.' He's like, 'Okay, yeah, you can be Ivar, I'll be Erik.'"

Ivar also spoke about the name changes they have had throughout their career, especially their tag team name, War Machine. He explained that they ultimately couldn't argue to keep their original tag team name because WWE didn't think it was appropriate.

"There was an MMA fighter who gotten a lot of trouble for a lot of things, we don't want to mention it, so we had the conversation with Triple H and he said, 'You know, I can't have, I can't have kids Googling that.' They couldn't pass anything through legal, there's already a Vikings football team, there's already a Vikings TV show ... then somebody describes us as like, 'Oh, they're this, they're that, they're like a Viking Experience,'  and it was like, that's it! They're the Viking Experience and not one person was happy or okay with that except for the one man."

Ivar is currently taking time off away from WWE after reports emerged about him being injured after he was attacked by Gallus on "NXT."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.