The wrestling world is still buzzing about this past weekend, and while the fallout from a shocking Night of Champions PLE dominates the conversation – especially with the third installment of Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi announced for Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam – one major storyline has slid under the radar. In the aftermath of the weekend’s chaos, the story that still hasn’t received nearly enough attention is the shocking heel turn of Lyra Valkyria.
The move happened after Valkyria and her tag team partner, Bayley, once again missed out on achieving their dream of becoming Women’s Tag Team Champions. And while Lyra didn’t appear live before the audience this past Monday night in Atlantic City, she did deliver a pre-taped promo segment instead.
She stated that she feels no remorse for her actions, adding that betraying Bayley “felt so good.” She then questioned why fans were so upset with her, claiming she had been the bigger person over the last year while playing the mentor-protégé role.
Valkyria went on to explain that she originally wanted to bring Bayley along with her to the top but is officially “done being nice.” But perhaps the best part of this taped segment was the new look she introduced, ditching her signature emerald green for the color black. She also swapped her usual heavy makeup for a minimal look, perhaps hinting at a more deranged edge to her new character.
Moving forward, fans are curious to see where things will go and what this shocking turn could ultimately lead to. A heel turn is only as good as its follow-through, and this article will dive into exactly what should be next for the newly minted villain. But before breaking down the ideal creative steps to ensure this new heel run is a success, we thought it was important to first dig into Valkyria’s past and how she landed in this exact position.
Digging into the Past of Lyra Valkyria
Aoife Marie Cusack, known to the wrestling world as Lyra Valkyria, was born on October 23, 1996, in Dublin, Ireland. During her childhood, it was her older brother, Darragh, who was the avid fan of American wrestling. While Aoife initially just watched it casually alongside him after school, she became totally invested once her brother eventually outgrew it.
The storyline that truly hooked her was the classic 2011 rivalry between Randy Orton and Christian over the World Heavyweight Championship. She has also stated that she deeply admired AJ Lee while growing up. However, the true turning point occurred when she was 17, when she witnessed fellow Irish native Becky Lynch make her debut on NXT.
During her post-secondary years, she attended Dublin City University, where she studied journalism. While completing her degree, she also spent extensive time training and competing on the European independent circuit under the name Valkyrie. Throughout this period, she built an impressive resume wrestling across Ireland, the UK, and Germany.
She made history in 2018 by becoming the first female to capture the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship. She followed that success a year later by winning the OTT Women’s Championship. That very same year, she also collected the Tag Team Championship alongside Debbie Keitel as part of the duo known as the “Woke Queens.”
Given her rapid success, she caught the eye of WWE and signed with the company in early 2020, where she was immediately assigned to the NXT UK brand. Performing under the name Aoife Valkyrie, she made an instant mark on the brand, becoming best known for a dominant undefeated streak.
Following the shutdown of NXT UK in 2022, she moved stateside to NXT and officially rebranded as Lyra Valkyria. Upon her arrival, she embraced an otherworldly persona heavily inspired by The Morrigan, a goddess from Irish folklore. Yet it wasn’t just the mythology that made fans remember her, but rather the unique nickname the audience affectionately gave her: “Bird Lady.”
Valkyria achieved the dream of a lifetime in 2023 at Halloween Havoc, defeating her real-life mentor Becky Lynch to become the NXT Women’s Champion. She held the title for a dominant 165 days, and following her historic reign, she hit another massive career milestone when she was drafted to Monday Night Raw in 2024.
Immediately upon her arrival on Raw, she instantly won over fans with her high-level in-ring ability and crisp execution. She achieved her first major accolade on the main roster in January 2025, defeating Dakota Kai to become the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion.
Three months later, she achieved double-champion status at WrestleMania 41, teaming up with a returning Becky Lynch to defeat Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
Lyra has the talent, but this new persona needs the right fuel to truly catch fire. Now that we have covered her journey to becoming one of WWE’s brightest young stars, it is time to look at two things the company must do moving forward to completely rejuvenate her character and make this heel run an absolute success.
