Lyra Valkyria has looked back on one of the biggest victories of her WWE career, which saw her defeat Becky Lynch and win her first championship in the company.
In late 2023, Lynch made the trip down to NXT following previous interactions with Tiffany Stratton, who was NXT Women’s Champion at that point. On the September 12th episode of NXT, Lynch defeated Stratton to win the title and become a Grand Slam Champion.
Reigning with the gold for 42 days, Lynch was dethroned by Valkyria at the Halloween Havoc special. The victory was the start of Valkyria’s rise in WWE as she reigned with the title for 165 days and was called up to the main roster shortly afterwards. From there, Valkyria made it to the finals of the Queen of the Ring Tournament and was crowned the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion in early 2025.
Speaking with Kenny McIntosh at the WrestleMania 41 press event, Valkyria spoke about what it was like working with Lynch at that stage of her career:
“I remember kind of the fear, to be honest of hoping I can rise to the occasion, but I definitely feel like I did. I’m very proud of the match we had. But yeah, I remember just hoping that I really have what it takes, and I feel like I showed that I did. Obviously, it’s the start of my NXT Women’s Championship reign, I feel like it’s kind of my most iconic match to date. So yeah, I’m just very proud of that one.”
When asked about Lynch giving her any advice, Valkyria stated that The Man gave her some reassurance:
“Yeah, people ask me that a lot, but I remember she did say to me to never doubt what I bring to the table. And she has a way of speaking that you’re just like, okay, you trust her, you believe her, she’s everything you would hope her to be.”
Lyra Valkyria And Becky Lynch Win Gold Together
The Women’s Intercontinental Champion was originally set to team with Bayley at WrestleMania 41 to challenge Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Intercontinental Championships. However, as Bayley was taken out the night before, Valkyria was in need of a new partner. Shortly before the match, Becky Lynch was revealed to be the replacement and won the titles alongside Valkyria.
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