The sports-entertainers formerly known as The War Raiders in NXT, and later re-dubbed The Viking Experience and The Viking Raiders, have been re-named once again as The Berzerkers.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced at a shareholders meeting this morning that the latest name change comes after allegations of “cultural appropriation” by the descendants of Norwegian Vikings.

“Quite frankly, WWE is a caring and inclusive organization that does not wish to offend marginalized persons or groups, quite frankly,” said WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. “Nobody could get offended by The Berzerkers, right?”

The Berzerkers — Erik Mendelbaum and Ivar Smith — have undergone numerous name changes in the past 24 hours alone:

  • At 3pm yesterday, they were listed on WWE.com as The Viking Warriors
  • At 5:30pm, the website had them listed as The Norse Seafaring Pillagers
  • By 8pm, their name had changed once again, this time to The Experience Raiders
  • Shortly before midnight, the site listed the team as The New Midnight Express Experience

The new name, which is expected to remain for at least a week, is inspired by 1990s sports-entertainer The Berzerker, who later gained great success under a new gimmick, The Undertaker.

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