People say to "never meet your idols." Lyra Valkyria learned that the hard way. What was once a fruitful collaboration at WrestleMania 41 has now turned into a bitter feud, as Valkyria now finds herself embroiled in conflict with five-time women's world titleholder Becky Lynch. After two months of fighting, Valkyria and Lynch are on a collision course to Los Angeles, where they will contest Valkyria's Women's Intercontinental title at Money in the Bank. With months of hostility set to end in less than a week's time, this is Valkyria and Lynch's story so far.
Lynch and Valkyria's first met in "NXT," during Lynch's brief reign as the NXT Women's Champion. Lynch and Valkyria's relationship was largely respectful after they joined forces in a tag team match against Kiana James and Tiffany Stratton, and after Valkyria beat Lynch for the NXT Women's Championship "NXT: Halloween Havoc," Lynch raised her compatriot's hand, satisfied with Valkyria's performance.
Aside from a brief backstage segment in May 2024, Lynch and Valkyria's paths did not cross again until WrestleMania 41, when a backstage attack on Bayley left Valkyria without a partner in her upcoming match for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez's WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Valkyria made her WrestleMania entrance alone, but Las Vegas became unglued as "The Man" came to join Valkyria after a year-long absence. Valkyria and Lynch took the fight to Morgan and Rodriguez, and both women walked out of Vegas the new tag team champions.
The pairing started out promising, but Valkyria and Lynch now hold the record for shortest reign with the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships, as they dropped the titles back to Morgan and Rodriguez on the"WWE Raw" after WrestleMania. Distraught at her title loss, Lynch turned on Valkyria, and shortly after, confessed to having attacked Bayley out of jealousy.
Lynch's heel turn sparked weeks of promo segments. Lynch credited herself with inspiring Valkyria, while Valkyria referenced her status as the first-ever WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion as proof she had moved on from Lynch. The two brawled week in and week out until Backlash, where the two finally locked up. Valkyria beat "The Man" via a flash pin,and an irate Lynch laid into Valkyria in a post-match brawl.
Despite Valkyria's victory, a rematch for the Women's Intercontinental title was announced for Money in the Bank via social media on the May 26 episode of "WWE Raw." Later that night, Valkyria accused Lynch of weaseling her way into a title match, and Lynch took a personal shot at Valkyria's fianc. Stakes ran high as Lynch promised Valkyria that, should she lose at Money in the Bank, she would never challenge for Valkyria's title again. Should she win, however, Lynch commanded that Valkyria look her eye-to-eye, and raise her hand.
Whether Valkyria will remain undefeated against Lynch after Money in the Bank remains to be seen. However, their match in Los Angeles is guaranteed to be nothing but vitriolic, violent, and personal.
