WWE star Lyra Valkyria has one of the most unique names in professional wrestling today, and during a recent interview, she revealed the inspiration behind her in-ring identity, which ultimately formed the character she portrays on TV today.Speaking with the "Toronto Sun," Valkyria shared that her name originated from the fantasy novel seriesSkulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, as well as a powerful goddess from Irish mythology."So, I chose the name Valkyrie, not actually knowing that it was a Marvel character and a goddess and all this other stuff. I choseit because of an Irish book, where an Irish girl starts a secret new life and has to take on a secret name, whichis kind of how I felt when I started wrestling because I was in school and I didn't have any friends that were into it," she explained. "So, yeah, it's my favorite book ...I also have an interest in mythology and it turns out there's an Irish version of that called the Morrigan, which is this whole Irish goddess that shape shifts into crows birds and I've always loved that kind of imagery and the stories connected with that. So it just kind of all merged together."Last year, Valkyria explained that the in-ring gear she first used in "WWE NXT UK" was influenced by theSkulduggery Pleasant series and she's always tried to represent the original imagery from the novel ever since. Additionally, the former Women's Intercontinental Champion used to wrestle under the name Aoife Valkyrie, which was directly pulled from the main character of the novel series,Valkyrie Cain, but eventually had to change it when she started to perform in the United States.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
