Lyra Valkyria

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lyra Valkyria

• Lyra Valkyria was born into a sports-loving family in Dublin.

• During her teenage years, she often watched WWE with her younger brother but didn’t think of pursuing it as her career.

  

• When he stopped watching it, she realised she loved it very much and often PPV shows to watch them.

  

• She was 17 years old in 2014 when she first saw Becky Lynch in the WWE NXT.  It was Lynch’s debut and the first NXT show she watched. It motivated her to become a wrestler.

• She then joined Fight Factory in Bray County Wicklow, Ireland’s largest wrestling school, opened by Finn Balor where Lynch also trained.

  

• She was a shy teenager and found it difficult to mix with a mostly male-dominated school. But with another female wrestler, the co-owner Katey Harvey trained her.

  

• Her family didn’t know she was so passionate about wrestling. But they never stopped her.

• During her college days, she often missed exams to wrestle in the independent circuit or to train if any great coach organized any sessions.

• While studying in her final year of college, she wrote articles for Green New Ireland focused on different things related to animals and nature.

  

• She also worked a part-time job at CeX to make ends meet while training.

• She later wrestled in local wrestling tournaments and became the Irish junior heavyweight champion.

  

• She later wrestled in several promotions including The Top Wrestling, Pro Wrestling EVE, and Pro Wrestling Ulster. Her ring name ‘Valkyrie Cain’ is the name of the main character of the novel Skullduggery Pleasant book series that she read in her teenage years.

  

• At the end of 2019, she was fighting in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), Germany when WWE contacted her for a tryout.

  

• On 20 January 2020, she signed up with WWE under the ring name Aoife Valkyrie.

• She fought in her first WWE NXT UK match against Amale on 17 January 2020, which she won.

  

• After moving to the USA in February 2020 for a few months,  she fought in a few house shows for WWE NXT.

• She had an unbeaten streak for more than a year before her first defeat against Meiko Satomura on 29 April 2021.

  

• In 2021, she suffered an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury that sidelined her for 1 year.

• On 13 December 2022, she made her WWE NXT debut against Amari Miller which she won.

  

• She became a superstar by defeating Becky Lynch in Night 1 of NXT: Halloween Havoc on 24 October 2023. It was her first Championship title.

  

• After the match, she claimed winning the match against Lynch was like an out-of-body experience (OBE) for her.

• On 29 April 2024, day 2 of the 2024 WWE Draft,  she got signed to WWE RAW.

  

• She later featured in the Money in the 2024 Bank ladder match and the 2024 Speed Women’s Championship.

  

• She dated Irish wrestler LJ Cleary for 10 years before they got engaged on 13 September 2024.

  

• In 2025, she became the inaugural champion of the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship after defeating Dakota Kai.

  

• It was later announced that she would be one of the 30 entrants in the 2025 Royal Rumble.

  

• She was featured as Lyra Valkyria in the video game WWE 2K24 as a downloadable character.

• In an interview, she revealed that her favourite Premium Live Event (PLE) was Money in the Bank. However, she would like WWE to conduct any WWE PLE in Ireland.

• She is an animal lover and has a pet dog.

  

• She is also popular among fans as a bird lady for her entrance.

  

• She likes to drink alcoholic beverages such as wine or beer during parties.