The newly-formed tag team of Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria has already split.
One day after Lynch and Valkyria won the Women’s Tag Team titles, they dropped them right back to former champs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, with Lynch turning on Valkyria in the post-match.
Valkyria was pinned in the Tag title rematch on Monday’s Raw in Las Vegas, with Morgan hitting Oblivion for the finish. Lynch was repeatedly neutralized as she attempted to help her partner during the bout.
After the match, Lynch hugged Valkyria before dropping her with multiple clotheslines. Lynch left the ring, then returned to hit three Manhandle Slams on Valkyria to cement the heel turn.
Lynch returned at WrestleMania 41 after a hiatus of nearly 11 months, replacing Bayley as Valkyria’s partner. Bayley was laid out backstage in an angle on the night one of WrestleMania pre-show on Saturday, with her attacker yet to be revealed.
It was announced on Monday’s Raw that Bayley had suffered a partial shoulder dislocation in storyline, and would be on the shelf for an indeterminate amount of time.
Our live play-by-play coverage of the Raw after WrestleMania is ongoing here.
Here are some news and notes from Sunday’s second night of WWE WrestleMania 41 action from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Celebrities in the house
Much like during night one, a large amount of celebrities and luminaries were shown on-screen for the second night.
The list included comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who will host The Roast of WrestleMania Sunday night; musicians Flavor Flav, Ava Max, Quavo, and Rich The Kid; music producer Metro Boomin; Jahmyr Gibbs of the NFL’s Detroit Lions; former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier, current UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and UFC fighter Colby Covington; boxer Terence Crawford, and actors Dean Norris, Vanessa Hudgens (also at night one), and Rana Daggubati.
Additionally, Slayer guitarist Kerry King played Damian Priest down to the ring. King plays the guitar for Priest’s entrance theme with his South of Heaven finisher named for a Slayer song.
Attendance
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the legend designated to give the attendance for the evening: a sold-out 63,226 and a two-night attendance of 124,693. As of 4 PM EST, WrestleTix reported just over 60,000 distributed with a setup of just over 60,000.
Much like night one, the announced number is shy of the 63,969for the 2024 Vegas Kickoff Classic between USC and LSU but more than the 61,629 announced for that same year’s Super Bowl. Night one’s attendance was announced as 61,467.
Before he did that, he managed to drive his four-wheeler into a barricade which appeared to knock a woman down. After Austin did his business, WWE head Nick Khan was seen checking on the woman.
After Jacob Fatu, Tiffany Stratton and Rey Fenix made their official WrestleMania debuts Saturday, even more made their first in-ring appearance on the big stage Sunday.
TNA World Champion Joe Hendry answered the open challenge to take on Randy Orton following Kevin Owens’ neck injury. Even though he isn’t under WWE contract, it’s the second major PLE Hendry has appeared at in 2025 following his debut at the Royal Rumble.
After Fenix debuted Saturday, Penta made his debut Sunday, failing to win the WWE Intercontinental title in a four-way. That match featured Bron Breakker, who also made his WrestleMania debut in losing the belt to Dominik Mysterio.
Reigning Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria made her WrestleMania debut memorable by winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles with the returning Becky Lynch.
Becky Lynch’s nearly year-long WWE hiatus has come to an end.
In her surprise return to the ring, Lynch teamed with Lyra Valkyria to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles from Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez at WrestleMania 41 night two. The match was originally announced with Bayley as Valkyria’s partner, but WWE ran an angle where Bayley was taken out in a backstage attack. Valkyria was given 24 hours to find a new partner — and Lynch was heavily rumored to be the selection.
The finish of the match was Lynch getting revenge on Morgan by pinning her after a Manhandle Slam. When we last saw Lynch on WWE programming, she lost a steel cage match to Morgan on Raw in May 2024 after Dominik Mysterio interfered.
During her hiatus from WWE, Lynch focused on acting work, including picking up a role in the upcoming Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.”
The new Women’s Tag Team Champions are both from Ireland, and Lynch has been a mentor to Valkyria in her career. She put Valkyria over in 2023 by dropping the NXT Women’s Championship to her.
Valkyria is now a double champion, holding the Women’s Intercontinental Championship in addition to the Women’s Tag Team titles.
The identity of Bayley’s attacker has not been confirmed by WWE. Morgan & Rodriguez claimed that they were not responsible.
Lyra Valkyria needs a tag team partner, and Becky Lynch could be it.
WWE shot an angle during the WrestleMania 41 Saturday pre-show in which Valkyria was seen running backstage only to see her tag team partner for Sunday, Bayley, lying on the floor and clutching her shoulder. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were then seen walking by, laughing at the predicament. Raw GM Adam Pearce confronted the champions but both denied having anything to do with the attack. Pearce said the match would take place as scheduled, and told Valkyria that she had 24 hours to find a tag team partner.
Bryan Alvarez is reporting that the Bayley injury is a story and has been in the works for a while, with the idea being that Becky Lynch will replace her in the upcoming WWE Women’s Tag Team title match on Sunday. Lynch notably was in town during WrestleMania weekend, sitting next to Seth Rollins during the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday.
Valkyria & Bayley were named number one contenders after winning a gauntlet match on last week’s SmackDown.
This is not the first WrestleMania match that has been changed today. After suffering an injury during SmackDown, Rey Mysterio announced that Rey Fenix would be taking his place in the match against El Grande Americano.
Bayley and Lyra Valkyria are on their way to WWE WrestleMania 41.
Valkyria and Bayley won the gauntlet match on Friday’s WWE SmackDown to advance to the Women’s Tag Team Championship currently slated for night two of WresteMania on Sunday, April 20. They will challenge current champs Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the titles.
Both teams had a staredown in the ring on Friday’s show while posing in the sightline of the WrestleMania 41 sign hanging in the rafters.
A match for the Women’s Intercontinental title is set for next week’s Raw.
In a promo segment during Raw, Valkyria said she appreciated Bayley helping her out against Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan last week, but she needs to stand on her own two feet as champion. After mentioning her only loss as champion so far was against Bayley in a non-title match, she will put the title on the line next week in Minneapolis.
Seth Rollins will also make his return to Raw next week. He was last seen on Friday’s SmackDown signing the contract for the three-way match between Roman Reigns and CM Punk that will headline WrestleMania Saturday, none too pleased to find out that Punk would be getting his WrestleMania main event thanks to Paul Heyman.
El Grande Americano will also be returning to action. Chad Gable told Adam Pearce backstage during Raw that he was still sick, handing him a doctor’s note. However, he changed his tune when he found out next week’s Raw would be in his hometown. Pearce said that Gable couldn’t compete, but El Grande Americano would be in action.
Here is the card for next week’s Raw:
Women’s Intercontinental title: Lyra Valkyria defends against Bayley
The Women’s Intercontinental Championship will be on the line when WWE Raw comes to Scotland next week.
WWE has announced that Raquel Rodriguez will challenge Lyra Valkyria for the Women’s Intercontinental title on next Monday’s Raw in Glasgow. Rodriguez recently earned the title shot by defeating Bayley in a number one contender’s match. If she beats Valkyria, Rodriguez will be a double champion heading into WrestleMania 41. Rodriguez & Liv Morgan are the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
NEXT MONDAY on #WWERaw Special start time of 4PM ET/1PM PT
Valkyria became WWE’s first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion this January and has made successful title defenses against Dakota Kai and Ivy Nile during her reign.
Raw has a start time of 4 p.m. Eastern next week with the show being held at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow during WWE’s ongoing European tour. The episode will air live on Netflix.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his WrestleMania challenger John Cena will both be on Raw again next week. Today’s episode of the show featured their first interaction since Cena’s heel turn.
CM Punk will also be on Raw next Monday. Plus, Jey Uso will need to find a mystery partner for a tag match against Grayson Waller & Austin Theory.
WWE Raw (Monday, March 24) —
Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria defends against Raquel Rodriguez
CM Punk appears
Jey Uso and a mystery partner vs. A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller & Austin Theory)
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes & John Cena appear
Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria is “absolutely loving” her experience on the WWE main roster.
It’s been nearly a year since Valkyria was called up to WWE Raw. During an appearance on the Battleground podcast promoting next Monday’s episode, Valkyria compared her time in NXT to her lifestyle on Raw. She feels like the main roster suits her more because there is more travel and the pacing provides more room for creativity.
“I feel like NXT is such a bit — a faster pace. Whereas on the main roster, I feel like I have more, I suppose, more room for creativity,” Valkyria said. “A lot of the time, even just traveling week-to-week, I don’t know, there’s just a lot more space. I feel like in NXT, you’re in the [Performance Center] every single day. So I just feel like the lifestyle of Monday Night Raw suits me a whole lot more. And I get to see so much more of the States. I get to travel. I’m absolutely loving it.”
Valkyria — who is from Ireland — said she’s always loved the journey that wrestlers get to experience, traveling around to different cities and experiencing the energy that different crowds bring.
In NXT, Valkyria held the NXT Women’s Championship one time. She captured her first main roster gold last month by defeating Dakota Kai in the finals of a tournament to become the inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion.
An Elimination Chamber qualifying match between Valkyria and Bayley will take place on Raw this coming Monday from Nashville, Tennessee. Liv Morgan is the only participant that has qualified for the women’s Chamber so far.
WWE has added three segments and one match to the lineup for Monday’s episode of Raw.
Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Lyra Valkyrie, have been announced for the show.
On Saturday, WWE.com revealed that fans will “hear from” Jey Uso on Raw, writing, “Just days before Saturday Night’s Main Event, we’ll hear ‘Main Event’ Jey Uso’s comments about his imminent World Heavyweight Championship Match against Gunther. Prepare to Yeet on Raw, this Monday at 8 ET / 5 PT on Netflix.”
Zayn is advertised to “address the WWE Universe” on Raw this week after having defeated The Miz on last week’s show.
The new Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Lyra Valkyria, is also advertised to “return to Raw” on Monday.
Additionally, WWE has added one new match to Monday’s lineup. Pure Fusion Collective will face Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky. However, WWE.com’s preview for the match does not clarify which two PFC members will be in the match or if all three are entered.
WWE Raw announced lineup for Monday, January 20, 2025:
Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
Pure Fusion Collective vs. Damage CTRL’s Dakota Kay & Iyo Sky
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) in action
WWE Hall of Famer “JBL” John Bradshaw Layfield appears
Jey Uso to appear
Sami Zayn to address the WWE Universe
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria returns to WWE Raw
The first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion has been crowned.
Lyra Valkyria defeated Dakota Kai in the finals of the tournament to crown the first-ever champion on Monday’s Raw. The finish had Valkyria move out of the way as Kai was going for a running boot to the corner. Valkyria then hit the nightwing in the middle of the ring for the victory.
After the win, Raw GM Adam Pearce awarded the title to Valkyria as she posed on the turnbuckle, pyro going off as she celebrated.
WWE announced the championship back in November, shortly after they introduced the Women’s United States title on SmackDown. Kai defeated Katana Chance and Shanya Baszler then Zoey Stark in the finals while Valkyria defeated Zelina Vega and Ivy Nile followed by IYO SKY.
In December, Chelsea Green defeated Michin to become the first-ever Women’s United States Champion. In a rematch, Green defeated Michin once again on Friday’s SmackDown to retain the title. NXT was the first to introduce a secondary women’s title with Kelani Jordan becoming the first-ever Women’s North American Champion, a title now held by Fallon Henley.
The finals to crown the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion are now set.
Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai advanced to the finals on Monday’s Raw after both won their semifinal matches. They will meet in two weeks on the January 13 edition of Raw, which moves to Netflix starting next week.
The first match in the semifinals saw Kai defeat Zoey Stark with a fireman’s carry and pele kick. In the second semifinal, Valkyria defeated Kai’s Damage CTRL teammate IYO SKY after countering a roll-up.
Kai was the first to advance out of the first round, defeating Katana Chance and Shayna Baszler. SKY ended up replacing Kairi Sane, who was attacked backstage by the Pure Fusion Collective, putting her out of action. SKY would go on to defeat Alba Fyre and Natalya to make it to the next round.
Prior to SKY’s match on Monday, Kai and SKY talked to one another backstage, hoping to meet each other in the finals of the tournament.
The first-ever Women’s United States Champion was crowned at Saturday Night’s Main Event earlier this month, with Chelsea Green becoming the inaugural champion.
Lyra Valkyria has made it to the next round of the Women’s Intercontinental title tournament.
Raw on Monday saw Valkyria defeat Ivy Nile and Zelina Vega to advance to the semifinals, earning the victory after she landed the nightwing on Nile. She will now face the winner of a three-way between Alba Fyre, Kairi Sane, and Natalya that has yet to take place.
After GM Adam Pearce revealed the championship two weeks ago, the tournament to crown the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion kicked off on last week’s Raw. Dakota Kai defeated Katana Chance and Shayna Baszler to become the first to advance. She will face the winner of a three-way between Zoey Stark, Raquel Rodriguez, and Kayden Cater. It currently isn’t known when the finals will take place.
A tournament to crown the first-ever Women’s United States Champion, meanwhile, is winding down. Bayley will face Chelsea Green and Michin will take on Tiffany Stratton this Friday on SmackDown. The winners of those two matches will move on to the finals to crown a champion at this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
WWE wrestler Lyra Valkyria is returning home to Ireland for an indie appearance this holiday season.
Valkyria will be in action for Over The Top Wrestling in her hometown of Dublin on Saturday, December 21. It appears that she’ll be facing Debbie Keitel — her former tag team partner — at the event. Valkyria & Keitel previously teamed together as The Woke Queens.
This will be Valkyria’s first time competing for OTT in more than five years. She had one Women’s title reign during her time in the promotion. In WWE, Valkyria is a member of the Raw roster and is a former NXT Women’s Champion.
Two other Irish WWE stars — Finn Balor & JD McDonagh — have also appeared for OTT Wrestling this year. They were involved with the promotion’s 10th anniversary event last month, winning a tag team match against Matthew Smyth & Sean Guinness.
The December 21 OTT event is named The Dream Before Christmas and is taking place from The Complex in Dublin.
Former WWE NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria was “over the moon” at her inclusion in the new WWE 2K24 video game — the latest career development after what she called an “insane few months” on the main roster.
I recently caught up with Valkyria while she was doing media to promote the new Global Superstars pack for the WWE 2K24 game of which she is part of, along with Jade Cargill, Nia Jax, Michelle McCool, Carlito, Kairi Sane and Dragon Lee.
Our full interview can be viewed below.
Valkyria gushed over seeing herself in her favorite gear while making her entrance in the game.
“When I saw that entrance, I was so, so over the moon. It’s my favorite gear. They’ve got the ‘Whooo’ chants from the crowd. Everything about it is absolutely perfect,” she said.
She didn’t know she was going to be included since she had not been scanned for it like other talent, noting that she learned about it with the rest of the world, saying it “was really cool.”
QUEEN OF THE RING FINALS
After being drafted to Raw earlier this year, the former WWE NXT Women’s Champion was immediately part of the Queen of the Ring tournament, making it all the way to the finals with wins over Dakota Kai, Zoey Stark and IYO SKY, eventually losing to Nia Jax.
“(The tournament) was insane. Being drafted was so unexpected and then my debut was in the Queen of the Ring tournament, I was thrown into the fire and I had to just hit the ground running. I feel like to have made it all the way to the finals within my first month (and then) wrestling in Saudi (Arabia) was absolutely amazing. I didn’t have time to stop and think and breathe. I had to go. What a time…I will never forget it,” she said.
“I had such an insane first few months. Stuff happens so quickly. I have no idea. I can’t even predict what my next year will look like if stuff keeps going the way it has been,” she continued.
DREAM MATCH
Her WWE career has only just begun and she already has experienced career highs like the aforementioned tournament and defeating Becky Lynch for the NXT Women’s title last October. Her future goals include to hold either one of the top WWE women’s singles titles and take part in a dream match of hers.
“Something hit me the other day. I’d love to do something like an Iron Woman match or something like that. I feel that would be the ultimate trust. You think about the Bayley and Sasha Banks incredible one that they had, and I would love something like that. I think that I’d be really, really proud of that in my career if I got to do something like that,” she explained.
The woman she would like to compete against in such a match? IYO SKY.
“Against IYO would be amazing. I don’t know. She’s amazing. I have been watching her since long before I ever even came to WWE. She’s just so experienced and working with her is just amazing,” she said.
“Congrats to you both! x,” wrote Pretty Deadly’s Kit Wilson.
“Oh hell yeah, congrats you too,” wrote Flash Morgan Webster.
“Aaaaaa congratulations you guys,” wrote Nina Samuels.
“Congrats!!” Marigold’s Myla Grace wrote.
The Irish couple have been together since they were both teenagers.
Cleary has been a regular with Pro Wrestling NOAH since last October. He participated in the company’s UK tour last week with shows in Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. As for Valkyria, she is currently involved in a program with Natalya and Zelina Vega against the Pure Fusion Collective on Raw. She also made a surprise appearance on Tuesday’s edition of NXT, saving Tatum Paxley from an attack by Wendy Choo and TNA’s Rosemary. Neither NOAH nor WWE had any events this weekend, allowing Valkyria and Cleary some time to spend together.
