Erik of The War Raiders appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet podcast for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, the former WWE Tag-Team Champion spoke about The Viking Raiders reverting back to The War Raiders, Valhalla (Sarah Logan) considering a WWE return, a potential singles run for himself like Ivar had while he was out and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On reverting back to War Raiders: “More important than that, we got to be ourselves. Now, as War Raiders, we are the closest thing to War Machine that we’ve ever been. No face paint. We’re not even wearing horns and helmets and armor. We’re coming out in essentially biker vests, leather vests. This is what I wear to TV. I just put a vest on, and I cut promos like this on WWE TV. I wear a black T-shirt and jeans, which is what I wear every day of my life. If I’m not in gym clothes, this is what I’m wearing.”
On Valhalla giving Michael Cole the antlers: “I think that was actually her last appearance on TV before she wasn’t able to be because she found out she was pregnant. I really think that was, it could be wrong. Internet, please correct me there, but I’m pretty sure that was her last moment on TV before she went on maternity leave. It was awesome. So it’s funny too, because Sarah had played around with different looks for Valhalla and different things. Some of it was based on the TV show, or some of it was like Instagram or whatever, where Viking paint and makeup was really, really fun. So she had fun just experimenting with different things and different looks, and then she would wear like the skull mask, or she’d wear different things. Cole during the day, we’d be in catering and Cole would be like, ‘Hey, are you wearing antlers today?’ And she’s like, ‘No, I’m wearing whatever.’ And he was like, ‘Ah, man.’ So it was real, that was genuine. Sarah, again, didn’t ask permission. She was like, I’ll ask forgiveness, not permission, and didn’t tell anyone. Just came out and put the antlers on him. So those reactions are 100% genuine. TV is live. Sometimes the best moments in wrestling is stuff that’s completely off-script and just not [planned]. Because we all have a rough idea of what’s going to happen, or whatever, to a certain extent. That one, the only person who knew that was going to happen was Sarah, and I don’t even know how long before she knew that was going to happen, but she was like, Yep, I’m bringing the antlers. Because Cole, every time he saw the antlers got really happy, for whatever reason. He’s just a fan of antlers. I don’t know. I can’t explain it, but it tickles him. So Sarah jumped up on the desk and put it on him and that was just a real, genuine moment from all involved, that wasn’t agreed upon. That wasn’t like, Hey, we’re gonna do this. She just was like, Yep, there you go.”
On Sarah Logan/Valhalla thinking about a return to WWE: “Yeah, she is. She is a constant inspiration for me. She works so hard, she is so dedicated and disciplined. She keeps me on my diet so much better because she’s so disciplined with hers. She’s already running, jumping, throwing things, getting back into battle shape and getting ready. So yeah, I don’t know when this is gonna air, but I’m sure it won’t be too long in the future you start seeing her again.”
On a possible Erik solo run like Ivar: “Yes, absolutely. I think there is untapped potential there where I don’t have any doubt. Ivar proved it when I was down with n neck injury, give me the ball and I can perform at any point on the card. I have full confidence in my ability that you want me to cut a promo? Great, I’ll cut a promo. You want me to have, whatever, whoever, anybody on our roster, especially our roster now it’s ridiculously talented, like ridiculously stacked and talented. You want me to wrestle AJ Styles on Raw? Great. I’ll tear the house down. You want me to wrestle? Pick a guy, anybody. I have a skill set, and I’ve been doing this since 2003. From the Indies, I was good guy, bad guy, comedy guy, you know, you’ve seen it just in WWE with Viking raiders. We’re serious, we’re scary, we’re heels, we’re comedy, whatever, wherever you want to go. We can do that. We have the skill set. So absolutely, there is a part of me that wants to have that spotlight always. We’re in this as wrestlers, but there’s also part of me that I never want that to be at the expense of being The War Raiders.”
