Ivar of the Viking Raiders opened up about changing the perception of “one-dimensional” big men in WWE.
With his Viking Raiders tag team partner Erik injured, Ivar has moved into the world of singles competition in WWE. The heavyweight has impressing fans with his speed and impressive moveset, and speaking in a new interview with TV Insider, he spoke about having the “amazing responsibility” of changing fans’ perceptions of big men in wrestling.
“I feel like for so many years the big guys were very one-dimensional, especially in WWE. For a long time, we haven’t seen big men that can go. The last ones were like Big Boss Man and Bam Bam. It has been at least 20 years or more since many of them have been in the ring. Even Yokozuna could move for a guy his size.
Now here we are and guys like me and Otis and Bronson Reed are taking the perception of the big man and completely changing it. I feel like it’s an amazing responsibility to change the industry for the better. It’s an exciting thing.”
Ivar Enjoys Unique Viking Gimmick In WWE
Elsewhere in the interview, Ivar opened up about his Viking persona, making it clear that he puts a lot of effort into studying the Viking lifestyle in order to translate it to his in-ring presentation.
“We watch every Viking movie and TV show that comes out. Just to be able to create and expand on what we see. We want to take things we see and morph them into whatever we want it to be for our characters. A lot of people may hate it, but it’s cool to us that we have this gimmick and nobody else does. We are the sole gimmick in WWE right now really, so it’s fun to play with that and do Viking things.”