Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Lyra Valkyria On Making WWE History, Complicated Becky Lynch Relationship, WrestleMania, Bayley

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

https://cvvtix.com - Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in LA and NYC with VIP Meet & Greet!Lyra Valkyria (@Real_Valkyria) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and the reigning Women's Intercontinental Champion. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at St. Louis, MO to discuss growing up in Ireland and making it to WWE, being inspired by Becky Lynch and getting to wrestle The Man, becoming the first-ever Women's Intercontinental Champion, tagging with Bayley, briefly being a double champion, the inspiration behind her entrance and more!Quote I'm thinking about: "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." - Vince LombardiPlease support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux  SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount   TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv   ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv  HUEL: Get 15% off plus a FREE Gift for NEW customers with the code INSIGHT at https://huel.comMIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight   BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com   PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.    Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet. Welcome back, my friends, to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for being with us on this one. And thank you for helping to make Insight the number one wrestling podcast on planet earth. Hit a close line from hell on that follow button wherever you're listening to this right now. If it's Spotify, could you take a second to leave a rating on there?

I understand we'll take more than a second. So we'll be realistic here. Could you take three or four seconds to leave a rating on there? If it's Apple, a review would be so, so helpful. And thank you for all of the birthday wishes yesterday. Yeah, my birthday is May 19th. Don't tell Kane. That is a very upsetting day for Kane.

If you've been watching wrestling long enough, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But thank you for all of the lovely birthday wishes. The only thing I would ask for is that, you follow the show and you leave a rating or a review. That's it. So it'll be like, oh my gosh, you shouldn't have. What a lovely present. I will thank you in advance for everybody who's done that. And I know that a ton of people listen to the show and don't follow the show. Maybe today is the day that you at least check to see. Oh my gosh, am I following the show? I wasn't. I wasn't following the show this whole time. We have two live shows coming up. Tickets are on sale right now.

First, we will see you in Los Angeles on June 6th, the day before Money in the Bank. Then we're heading to New York City, baby, on August 1st, the day before the first ever two-day SummerSlam. Grab your tickets at CVV-V-Tix.com. That's CVV-T-I-X.com. The VIP ticket packages include a special meet-and-greet, and they're going to sell out. So jump on them while you can. We've got more cities that are going to be announced soon.

if there's a certain city you want us to come to, let me know. But for now, we will see you in LA and we will see you in New York. We've got the inaugural WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion on the show today and what a 2025 Laura Valcura is having. From making history with the IC title to her big moment at WrestleMania 41 with Becky Lynch and winning the tag team titles with her idol, to then Becky turning on her the next night, the Roth to WrestleMania, and the fantastic match that that led up to at Backlash. I just love that all of Lyra's hard work

over the last 10 years is really paying off. Michael Cole said it best recently on Raw. He said that she's really starting to come out of her shell. It's amazing to see. And I don't think she's done like a full-length, hour-long interview like this before. So it was just so great to get into her mindset and just see what she's all about.

I love this conversation, and I know that you will as well. Snap a screenshot and tag us online. She's at Real underscore Valkyria. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Here we go. Please welcome Lyra Valcuria. Well, great to see you.

Great to see you. I'm glad we're finally doing this. Me too, me too. Yeah, and congrats on everything. Thank you. It's been a heck of a 2025 for you so far. Yeah, it really, really has. It's been crazy.

chaotic, meteoric. It's like, I feel like every month or every week now, I'm saying like, okay, this one's the most important match of my career. Now this one's the most important match of my career. You know, they just keep coming. Where did that begin? What was the most important match of your career this year so far? Was it the one where you won that thing on your shoulder? You could say that. You could say WrestleMania. You could say the one tomorrow. Like, at backlash, they just keep coming, honestly. Like, I've always, something my trainer used to say from the very beginning was the most important match as always the next one. So I always thought that was a really good mentality.

On that same idea, do you believe in the idea that you're only as good as your last match? Yeah, I love that idea. There's always this advert that was one of the WWE ones that used to play in my head all the time. And it was Cofi Kingston's voice, actually. I have told him this, the one that says you're only ever one great match away from being the next big thing. And I love that. do you feel like there were times before this amazing year you're having right now where you were like right on the cusp of like things could have been I could have taken it to the next level

and it just didn't happen um I've kind of there's been a lot of points in my career where I've kind of been like it felt very out of the frying pan and into the fire and I feel like I've so far I've never let myself down on that but I suppose a point where I was on the cusp or something and then it all fell flat was when I tore my ACL in NXTUK. I was like on the road to coming back to another match at MAKA Sadamora, who was the NXTUK women's champion at the time. And my whole world was who's going to be the one to beat MAKO, you know, the talk of the locker room, the talk of everything.

You know, she was the ultimate champion, the ultimate person you wanted to be in the ring with. You know, that was everything was the NXTUK women's championship. So then it's like we were just coming back from COVID and wrestling in front of nobody. And actually, I heard the Bailey tour her ACL. And this was like, right as the people were coming back, the crowds were coming back. And I was like, oh, that's awful timing. Like, how awful? And I did it one week later.

And there's just been, God, there's so much when I think about it. Like I did it from doing a sunset bomb from the corner. And I was at the show in Dublin where Seth Rollins did the same thing, where he tore his knee. Wow. So, yeah, I saw his last match as the WWE champion. And then, like, if you told me back then that, like, I was going to do the exact same thing, you know, it's pretty wild. But I feel like I was on the road there to possibly maybe becoming the NXCK women's champion or having that match. with Mako that rematch that I never got that I really wanted.

That's the one time, the one thing in my career where I'm like, I wonder what if. That's kind of it. Did you know it was torn? No, I didn't even know what that meant. Like, I'd never had any bad injuries. I'd never, like, I know now, like you hear about a torn knee or something. It's like, oh, it's a big, you know. Yeah, you're out for everything.

I didn't know that. Yeah, I'll never forget it. I was on my way into town to meet my now fiancé. And I remember, like, after the match, I finished the match. And I remember they wanted to put me on crutches going into the airport. And I was like, no. And like, I'm fine.

I thought it was one of those things where I'd be fine in two weeks. Like, oh, it's just fine. Like, it'll be okay in two weeks. I was just going to be sore for a bit. No, like in the moment it was really bad. But then after that, it was just, I really did just think like, oh, yeah, this will be fine. The surgery messed me up so much more than the injury. It was, it was the surgery that I was like, that killed me.

That set me back. But the actual injury. I was like, do I even need surgery? Like, so I, they were like, you need a scan. I didn't think I did. So I was like, okay, we'll do this. And I felt so confident that it was going to be fine. The fact that we had to like, you know, the referee did the X and we had to pause the match.

I remember actually thinking when we did the scan, I hope there's something there just so I look like, I don't look like a, like it was nothing. But I had no idea how bad it was going to be. So I was in town about to meet my fiancé and I got a phone call and they tell me that I have a torn ACL and I'm like, okay, what does that mean? Like I genuinely, they were like, oh, it's going to be surgery. Surgery. You know, and they were like, yeah, you're going to be out for like nine months to a year. I couldn't believe it. Like I remember just, I was standing in a, in just the shop, the corner shop and they were just like, I was so shocked.

There was like tears rolling down my face and I was like, I can't be out for a year. And then I remember like I was meeting my fiance there. And I remember seeing him and like grabbing him by the shoulder as he was walking by and he just sees me on the phone like this like crying. And he turns around. He doesn't know what's happened. Like, God, it was so rough. But yeah, I'd say that was that was a big downpoint. But now I, you kind of do just look at it and be like, no, it was a great struggle.

Like, you know, when you're out, there's nothing more you want than to get back. So it forces you to think about, you know, why you do this, what you want from this. And, you know, when you're forced to be on the sidelines, it makes you appreciate everything so much more. And, you know, it kind of just refreshes your work ethic and your drive. But it's got to be difficult when you're sitting at home and you're not out there. And you're watching it on TV and you're seeing other people in that spot that you would have been in or could have been in. And you're just going, all right, well, if they told me nine months to go, well, now we've got eight, seven, six. And you're counting down going, look at all these misty.

opportunities I've had. Yeah, a little bit. There was a big part of me that was hoping, like, maybe they'll wait for me. Maybe I'll still come back and be the one to beat Mako, you know. Again, now I'm kind of wise enough to know that this moves on without you. Yeah, this does not wait for anyone. But yeah, no, I had a lot of ups and downs in waiting. But I wouldn't change it for anything now. Like, I feel like that injury really helped me as a, I don't know, it just, it kind iron sharpens iron kind of. I don't know. It just made me tougher. You got a cool scar out of it. Look at that. Yeah, a little one. Probably the smallest one that I've seen. It's not bad. Yeah. But it's like, you know, scars tell a story. Yeah. There's a story there.

Yeah, my own little battle scar there. Yeah. What's, what are you drinking here? As is a black Americano. Oh. I feel like, I feel so bad when people bring, bring drinks into an interview because they very rarely have time to drink them. Oh, yeah. So make sure to please, Take some sips in between questions. Otherwise, it's things going to get cold and it's not going to be any good by the time we're done here. I should have brought you a drink. What's your coffee? I actually, I don't drink coffee.

I have some water here. You're one of those psychopaths. I may have a slight addiction to energy drinks. Okay. There's always something. Yeah, right? We have something to keep you going. But I see the whoop on your wrist there.

Oh, yeah. I was a whoop person for a long time. Oh, yeah. How's your rest in recovery today? Pretty good. Pretty good. Yeah. I think we're in the green. Okay, good. Have you had a hundred percent day yet? No, I'm never. I live in the yellow. I live in the yellow. I'm never recovered. How about like after a real long flight, real long day? Are you like way down in the reds, like single digits? Yeah, especially on Tuesdays. Because we're always on like three hours sleep on a Tuesday. There's just no hope to get in the green for a Tuesday.

Well, you get the recovery throughout the rest of the week, right? Yeah, yeah, try and build it back up, but it's always a catch-up game, never on top. What's training look like for you in the gym? So I've discovered CrossFit, and I absolutely love it. And now I wouldn't train any other way. It was Ivy Nile that got me into it. Her and her husband, there's a gym that is right beside the performance center, and we're always in there every day.

I love it. I love it so much. So is it seven days a week? No. I feel like I try to do like, I'll try to do three, CrossFit sessions, a hot yoga session, and like my own other deck of cards, like body weight, squats, that kind of thing, one of those a week. That's kind of my, like, happy place. Oh, in a wrestling session. If I can get like a training session in, I'm still always training. Are you still doing

any sort of martial arts? Martial arts, apart from like outside of wrestling? Yeah, like, anything from what you've done previously before wrestling? Do you do anything like that? No. You're like, I'm focused. I'm focused on wrestling. I wouldn't have the time. I'd love to get back into dance if I had the chance, but I don't. Are there similarities between dance and wrestling? I think so, in that it's how you do something that is, like, it's a form of self-expression. I almost feel like, isn't it? Everyone kind of moves differently, and you can kind of, you can almost tell someone's personality by how they dance and how they move, and I feel like you can do the same thing when you watch someone in the ring. Yeah, and like your body's what's telling the story.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I think there's, there's, there's, And there's a real beauty to that. I think so, yeah. You're telling a story through what your body is doing, what you're doing with the people around you. Yeah. Growing up in Ireland, who's the person that you looked at that was already doing it in WWE that you went, oh, because they're doing it, I can do it now. Well, that was Becky.

She was the first, like, when I saw NXT, the very first thing I saw of NXT was her Irish dancing debut. That was it. And, you know, I was already a fan. But, like, that was what set the ball rolling of, like, she must have started somewhere. Like, she didn't just spawn over there. If she's from Ireland, like, is there somewhere to do this here? And that was what made me, you know, go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole of where is there to train in Ireland. So you were already watching wrestling at this point?

Yeah. You were just a fan of it? I was just a fan. I got into it with my brother. My brother was a fan. And I used to, like, slag him off, be like, oh, what are you watching that for? you know, but it would always be on after school. And then as he kind of, he kind of grew out of it, actually. But I got more and more invested. And I always say the thing that like hooked me forever

was like Randy Orton and Christians feud in like 2011 and like Sina, um, Cian Punk, Money in the Bank, like all that kind of thing. That was, um, that was what really, really got me in. That was when I started paying for the pay-per-views. I started like, it was unmissable to me from, from then on. When you think about it, there's less than 10 people from, from Ireland that I've ever made it in WWA and you're one of them. Yeah, it's crazy. But also you look at how small Ireland is and like how many of us are on raw right now and and doing so well.

Like it's crazy. I feel like we're really good at like producing the best. Yeah, what is it? What are you guys having the water over there? I don't know what it is. I feel like it's just our approach to this and how we see how we see what happens between the ropes and that we have this like certain grit about us. We train on the mats.

Like when I started, we didn't have a ring. We were learning to bump on mats, that kind of thing. And I don't know. There's just a very kind of how bad do you want it. Like don't let anyone beside you do more push-ups than you. Like, you know, if you are going to get on the show, you have to earn your spot. You have to bring something to the table that no one else is. You have to be the best.

Like we're very competitive, but also supportive. Like it's, it's not a, I feel like there's two types of competitor. You can be like nasty with your competition or you can, like, I want you to do great so I can do better. You know, when it's supportive, you want to help each other. And it's like we all get better together by pushing each other and by trying to outdo each other. But it's in a nice way. Yeah. And I love that about wrestling.

I love this phrase clapping for others doesn't take away from your own success. Yeah, I love that. And that's the idea what you're talking about here. Like if you're getting better, that's great. Yeah. I'm happy for you. I'm excited for you. It's one thing to watch someone like Becky Lynch on TV and go, she's doing the thing and

she's from my country. But it's a totally different thing to go, I can do that now. So what gave you that belief? Honestly, I don't think I went, I can go do that. I think I am, like, it was one of those things where I was watching, I was watching raw, super late because it starts at like 1am. And I was again down the rabbit hole. Where can I go to do this? I was even like, you know, I was looking at who's in the club, who's there. And I was not the type of, I was not very outgoing. I was very, very shy. So if I started something, I needed a friend to go with me and that kind of thing. Like I was never the one.

I was the quiet friend, I think. I was always a bit awkward. But this was the one thing that I was like, if I go, like, I'll just do it. I even considered, like, giving a fake name so that if it goes really badly, no one has to know about it. And my friends will never find out anything like that. And it was like, I must have been like 3 a.m. And I was on my phone looking it up. And I kind of just went, I'm just going to do this.

It was actually a Saturday night. And I was up watching wrestling. And I went, I'm just going to go tomorrow. Because if I put day on my phone right now and go to sleep, And I say, maybe I'll do this next week. I won't. It was just one of those freak things that I was like, just get up and go.

And it turned my whole life around. Like, that one little decision to just try something really did change my life. Because I knew from, it sounds like, it's just something to say, but it really did. I decided that day that good or bad, like that's what I'm going to do.

So, yeah, that one decision to try something changed everything. Do you remember that first day? Yeah, yeah. No, I don't remember the session very well. I remember the pain the next day. And I remember running around in a circle with the few guys that were outside. I met my fiancee that very first day as well. He was the first person I ever met, shook my hand outside the gym. And look at you guys now. I know, yeah. Yeah, I'm amazed by the ideas, the idea that if you don't do this thing, then this thing can't happen. And if that thing doesn't happen, you don't meet

this person or whatever it happens to be. There's so many crazy things like that in my career that have worked out just ridiculously to make me think like the universe is on my side. Sure. Yeah. Men, the only thing worse than losing your hair is waiting forever for it to grow back. That's why you need Hymns. You can start seeing your hair grow back in as little as three to six months. Hymns provides you with convenient and quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work

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That's C-A-R-G-U-R-U-S dot com. Car gurus.com. It's become full circle now with Becky Lynch. So like this is the person that got you into wrestling. She's the person that you beat for the NXT championship. There's so much history there. What does it mean to you to be able to work with Becky now? It's just crazy.

Like she's the one that broke all the glass ceilings, the one that did it all. But she didn't just like do it and succeed. Like she went, she did things that no one ever thought possible. So that's just, I have like a. crazy level of respect for that because, you know, once someone does something, there's all these studies about like how far the 100 meter run, the maximum was like the human capability, how much they can go, right? But then once one person broke that. This is the four minute mile.

That's it. Roger Bannister in the four minute mile. They thought it was literally impossible. Impossible to do it any faster than the current record. Yeah. And then. then one person broke it. And then when that one person broke it, it was broken by the next person and the next person and the next person. It's almost like you just need that one person to show you that it's possible. And then suddenly like it just opens up the floodgates. And suddenly there's no limit, you know?

So like to have a woman from my tiny country of Ireland to have gone that far, I really feel like if not, if her, then why not me, you know? When was the first time you met her? It was actually in my training gym when she came home to film her 24 doc for WGB. That was the one time I met her. And I went to a pool of tears, which I'm embarrassed to say now. But it's nice when you look back. I only met her that one day.

And then I didn't meet her again until NXT. Did you have anything like prepared? Like you know you're going to meet her. And are you like, I'm going to tell her this or this or I'm going to share? No. No. I remember it was like a group thing and she was talking to everyone and she showed us some stuff in the ring and they had the cameras there. And I was the champion of my promotion at the time and I remember my head trainer going like, oh, this is actually our first women's champion. I was the first woman to hold that title, the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship at a home and fight factory. And she was like, oh, and then suddenly like all the attention, like everyone kind of looked at me and she looked at me and I remember being like, crap. You know, but yeah, it's a good memory. It's funny for someone who says, you say you're shy, say you don't want attention,

you may have picked the wrong business to be in then. I know, right? Like, that's a scary thing when you think about this because it's such a, you know, my parents will say that to me all the time. My dad was like to me, I can't believe you ended up in entertainment because I was just the last person that you would think would be able to do that stuff. Do you think that's like a different version of you? Like, are you a certain person before you go through the curtain?

And then when you go out through the curtain after your music hits, that's a different version of you? I think for a while I was trying to be. And now I think I'm realizing that it's actually you need to be yourself when you go through the curtain. And they're the best people. Like, I look at the best. And sometimes I worry because the top stars that go out there, they are just turned up versions of themselves and they're big personalities and they are the same person in the locker room as they are when they go through the curtain

and I'm a bit more like reserved and quiet I wouldn't say I'm a massive personality so I kind of I would sometimes wonder like oh do you have to be this type of person to make it here but then I don't think you do it do anymore. Like, I think I actually, I look at like Chad Gable and he's quite reserved and everything, but he's out there, you know, being a superstar, it's learnable. And that was a question I actually asked John Cena. I said, do you think you have to naturally have this kind of big persona? Or do you think it is learnable? And he said it was learnable. So like charisma can be a learned quality? I think so. I think so and he thinks so.

Well, yeah, I think about that stuff a lot. But I actually think the most, it's more important to just be you. So that's kind of what I'm trying to do now. Michael Cole recently said on Raw that you have come out of your shell. Do you feel like you've come out of your shell? I think so. I think I'm more comfortable being who I am than I have ever been. But I think I've always had that side of me there. It just has a lot of. been showcased just yet. So what brought it out of you? Well, this whole storyline, this is, I kind of just haven't had the chance to get out there

and get on the mic yet. And I want this, and I know I've always had it in me. So now it's just showing it. How much confidence does that championship on your shoulder bring to you? A lot of confidence and it's a big responsibility and there's a lot of pressure that comes with it. But I think I'm kind of in control once I get in the ring. Like that's where I'm like, no matter what outside noise there is, I'm completely like in control of what I do here. So that's kind of where my power is.

No one can take that away. Because like when you win the championship, when you win the women's intercontinental championship, they're saying you, like we choose you and also we choose you to be the first. So you're going, you're going to make history. Like people will never forget the first. That's got to give you a ton of confidence to know like I'm doing something right right now and I got to keep rolling with this. Oh yeah, I do. Like that's, that's massive. No matter what my name's in the history books as the first intercontinental women's champion, like that is huge. So I feel like I am doing some great things and everything right. When did those conversations begin when they were talking about bringing out this

championship and then you started to become part of the conversation of like it could be you? I never was a part of that conversation. I just, I find out what I'm, you know, I find out on Mondays what I'm doing. I found out the day of. I was never a part of the decision or the conversation. I just showed up to work. How did you feel when you were told that? Oh, like, amazing. Like, I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it. But things don't hit me when I think they're going to. I always say that, like, it never hits me in the moment. Like, it hit me when I was driving home and taking my bags out of the car on the Tuesday. And, like, the title is just sitting in my bag and, you know, the zip open. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's.

That's the intercontinental championship. I won that. I brought that home. You know, that's when it hits me. It's never like when it should. How about the first time you take it through TSA and they go, what is this thing? Yeah, that happens a lot.

That's starting to get old. It is? No, it's just like I always have to allow that. I'll never check it, obviously. So I have to allow that little bit of extra time. You can't check it. You can lose it. Because it's getting pulled.

So maybe you take it out. you put it in its own separate bin. Okay, right? And then it goes through. Maybe people will be looking at it, but it won't get pulled out of your bag. You won't have the secondary search. Yeah, maybe.

Maybe I should just whip it out. What are the questions? Maybe I should just go to the airport with it on my shoulder. Maybe. Walk around. You're the champion of all of the continents interconnected together. What are the questions you get when they take that out of security? I'll always know if they understand WDVE.

if not they'll be like oh what's that like um what weight class are you in and then i know like okay they don't know what we do but sometimes they get like super excited and ask for pictures and stuff and that's always nice and like they know that they've met the champion then yeah that's a cool thing very cool very cool i love um i got to bring home the nxte women's championship like to my home gym and um you know my family at home and i got to bring this one home as well so that's like Really cool. What a cool moment you had at WrestleMania, where for about 24 hours, you had two championships. I did.

I did. I was tag team champions with Becky. And I know it's funny when you look at J.D. McDonough, he always says his dream was to be tag champions with Baller. And, you know, they did that. And however short-lived it was, you know, I was a double champion. Right. Yeah.

What an entrance at WrestleMania. So walk me through. just the vision for what that entrance was going to be? Well, so I had those wings, the white and gold, set aside for a while. I was like, that's big show gear. But the mistake I made was I never, so once doors opened, I realized I never got up on that stage. I never checked, I never walked out. I never, like I've got the wings.

I didn't test how it feels to walk out or get in the ring with them. or anything and I was like, I should have gotten on the stage. I've no idea if there's bumps, if there's dips, if there's anything. I was like, oh, why didn't I do that? I just, you know, it just slipped my mind that that's something I should definitely do. So then when I was on the stage for the first time, it was to make my entrance. So because I was so unfamiliar with the venue and everything, I was like, oh my God, I cannot trip. So, and it's always very cool, like, because I make my entrance with my back to the crowd, when I was so I'm when I come up, there's a cool, when I turn around and I see everyone, it's, it's always cool.

But this time, as I was coming up, I turned around and there was so much smoke at mania that I couldn't see anything. So I started to walk and I looked down at the ground and I'm like, don't fall, don't fall. And the second I look up, the smoke had completely cleared and I saw, you know, the entire arena. And I feel like you can see that on camera. Like I'm like, make my interest is going on. Oh, oh, wow. And that's the biggest crowd by far you've ever been in front of. And yeah, I think so. Or maybe Rumble. The Rumble, I think the Rumble might have had more. Yeah. But yeah, that was, that was crazy to be walking down, knowing my family is out there, my fiance is out there. Yeah, it was a dream come true. What is the story behind your entrance

in general? Um, so on the independence, I wrestled as Valkyry. And that's not Marvel character-based, not bird base. It's actually from my favorite book, which is written by an Irish author. It's about, I discovered it. It was when I was 12 years old, the main character was 12, living in Dublin and starts this whole new secret life. And she has to take on a name to start this new life. And she calls herself Valkyry.

So I started that. And until I went to WB, I never used the kind of, imagery that's associated with the Valkyrie at all. So then I was like, okay, well, I should probably use that. So I got the kind of Valky-looking gear for NXQ. And then when I was moving across, I had to change my name. And I actually contacted the author of that book. So his name's Derek Landy and he's Irish. And he suggested this character called the Morrigan. And I was actually a little bit familiar with it. It's like the Irish Valky from Irish mythology. And Finn Baller and his demon character also drew from like Irish mythology and stuff. And the Morrigan is basically,

transforms into a raven or crow and hovers over the battlefield and decides who's going to win a battle. So I was like, that's really cool. And I went down that rabbit hole and just, it's just a very cool female warrior character who transforms into a raven. And I just thought that was very cool. It was related to The Valkyry. So it's still tied to like my book and my favorite stuff. And I love mythology. So yeah, that's where it all comes from. And in your Instagram bio, you've got Bird Lady. Yeah, well, that's just what all this deep meaning behind it and everyone's just like, ah, bird. There's more to the story, people. Yeah. Well, whatever. If people like it, they can call me bird lady, I think. And it's fine. I think it's the idea, if they remember you, you're doing something

Right. Yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. That's... Bird ladies are cool. Right? I think when you say bird lady, I just think of home alone too.

You know what I'm talking about? A pigeon lady in the park? Yeah. Yeah, there's... That's definitely not what you are. I see on Twitter people, there's like a gif of this pigeon that like flies straight at the camera. And I get that a lot. But now that I'm the champion, people have put a little title on the pigeon.

Ooh. And the pigeon looks great. It just changes the whole gif. Like, the pigeon looks so excited with the title. I'm like, oh, it's meant to be. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup.

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Becky hasn't been too nice to lately. No. It's funny. She comes back. Huge reaction, right? Like, you're standing in the ring. What was that just wave of energy when her music hit? That was very cool. Like knowing that that was about to happen and I just got to be standing at the ramp for it. Yeah, that was really, really cool. And then the next day she turns on you. I know. It is turned into this whole other thing. Now you get a cool feud with Becky Lynch out of this, which is awesome.

But to go from like the highest of highs and you guys are together and, you know, things are great at WrestleMania to the raw after WrestleMania. We don't like Becky anymore. No, no, we don't. And it's funny because, you know, it came at the expense of Bailey, which is a bit sad. because we clicked so well as a tag team. So it was genuinely hard to have my mania moment come at an expense to, like, Becky was everything that I, you know, she is a big part of the reason I started wrestling. But it was the era of the four horsewomen in NXT. It wasn't just Becky, you know, Bailey was a massive influence as well.

So it did kind of taint how great it was, knowing it was coming at her. her expense. It's almost like there's an asterisk on that moment, right? Because the buildup was going to be you and Bailey in this tag team match. Yeah. Bailey's taken out and then you now have a mystery partner. But it's like, well, where do things go now with Bailey? And I agree with you that it's like it's a bittersweet moment then. Yeah. Um, like, I don't know. It's hard to, to talk about or to um because there's so much good but there's so much like i don't know there's like what's it's just tough i can't yeah there's a lot of history with bailey there is well a quick history we only we only tagged for a couple of weeks but we hit it off so well

outside of the ring um she's just uh she's very easy to chat to and get along to um along with um And she's just so personal, like, you meet Bailey and you feel like you've known her your whole life. I introduced her to my fiance. And he was like, I haven't met her before, have I? And I was like, no. And he was like, I feel like I have just from talking to her there. It's like you just know her, you know? Yeah.

I love this tweet you put out eight years ago in 2017. There's so much stuff like that. And you said, imagine one day being able to make someone feel how I felt meeting Bailey. Now, that would be amazing. Yeah. even the way I worded that, like, how did I, me on Twitter when I was younger? My God, I had no idea how much I was setting myself up for in the future. Right, because there's two components of that, right?

There's one of like, how cool is meeting Bailey? This is amazing. The second part is like, imagine one day I could make someone feel that way. And that's what you do now. I mean, I hope so. We'll never know, like Bailey and Becky and everyone, they're all at this point where, you got like me, Roxanne and, you know, people coming in to WB now and being like, I'm here because of you.

And I suppose I won't really know. Like, I'd love to think that someone is watching me and going to say the same thing to me one day. But it's even just the idea that you're meeting a fan now. And even if they never become a wrestler, you made them feel great on that day. And that's a moment they'll never forget. Yeah, I love that. I always think that anyone who doesn't understand what we do, if you come to a live show, Like my favorite thing ever is when if we're all watching the same match,

I love that everyone in that room is on the same emotional journey of that match. And we all just go through it together. And there's like an electricity in the room. And like there's nothing more magical than everyone being sucked into a match live in person. Like honestly, it's so addictive. It's like you can't describe the magic of it until you bring someone or you do it yourself. So if you said there's other moments like that tweet, what are the other ones that made?

people haven't seen? Well, there's just a lot of things like that where I feel like everything has come full circle, like with the tweets and stuff like being in, being at the Dublin show where Seth Rollins tore his knee and I did the exact same thing. And then you've got like, like just for example, when I, when I was training and traveling, stuff didn't make sense a lot of the time, right? Because I was in, I was in education. I was being educated. I was in college. And I was like pulling out of exams and missing a lot of, I was missing a lot of college to travel and train. And, you know, you're spending way more money than you're making when you're just doing it.

You know, for a long time, you pay to wrestle before you ever get paid to wrestle. And I remember I was just doing what the top guy in my school was doing. And all he was doing was traveling and getting to as many different schools as possible. And he was going to British wrestler, like World of Sport Wrestler, Marty Jones and Johnny Moss. his school, so he would do trips and go to both. And I was like, well, he's the best, so I have to do what he's doing. So I tagged along with him and I started training with Marty Jones and Johnny Moss. And when I went there, little did I know. And little did I know that Johnny Moss would become a producer and trainer for WWE. But even like I remember when I was over and we would like stay in

this BNB, train with Mossie, and we ended up going for like a pint afterwards. And I remember Mossie telling us like, oh, they're building a performance center. There's going to be a UK show and a UK PC. And he was like, keep it super hush, hush, you know, it's not out. And I was like, no way. But like I was there. I will never forget, like sitting there with a drink in front of me being told that this PC was going to be built. Little did I know, I'd be a part of the women's tryout.

I would be there and have this whole journey in NXUK before it was even a thing. And then it closed. and then, you know, my life for ages was the NXT UK Women's Championship. And then little did I know that, like, you know, all the talk about who was going to beat MAKO. And it would be like, Mandy, MAKO wouldn't be pinned. And now the UK Championship just doesn't exist. There's just so much craziness. But anyway, yeah, just bringing it back to Mosse, just, there was no reason, you know, I wasn't,

I wasn't like, I'm going to go travel there because this is going to happen. How was I to know that he would end up as my trainer in WWE? You know, it's just stuff like that. Little decisions I made purely to get better and do what I should do to become the best, just have like come out. God, there's my best friend and trainer. We had a match. Her name's Katie Harvey.

And we had a show where a dive went wrong and she broke both of her arms. but in the match I was supposed to continue the match with her and she didn't get back up so then one day I'm on years later on TV NXT the exact same thing happened with Shotsi

in the exact same way we were outside the ring and she just didn't get back up and that was such a weird like oh my God I've been here before and I don't know it was just like I was a little bit better prepared I suppose

because I'll never forget watching Katie being carried to the back. And then to have the same thing happen with Shotsie, it was just, oh, but like this has happened before. So it's just so weird how things come back to you, you know? Yeah. What was the driving force for you early on? Was it just, I want to get signed by WWE? Or was it just like, I want to make enough money to keep this thing going?

No, it was never, ever about money. I just wanted to do this and I feel like my motivation changed completely because like watching Becky and I remember watching Paige win the Divas Championship when she debuted and stuff like that that was my reason to start but when I started honestly

even as when I was first watching wrestling I was the type that I would fast forward the matches sometimes because I wanted to know who won and then I wanted to see like the interactions after the match I would fast forward the wrestling part to get to the promos and the and the drama and when I went to my first training session

I had no idea, I didn't know what indie wrestling was I didn't know anything all I knew was WWE and I didn't know if I would be handed a script and told to like walk out a ramp like I didn't know what training was I didn't I had no idea what wrestlers do and very very quickly I just I feel like I fell in love with the

the wrestling side of it. And I went completely the other way. So now like everything is is about like between the ropes for me. And it's just so funny because I used to fast forward the matches to get to the other stuff. And now it's like it did almost the complete reverse. I feel like I, I flipped it completely upside down and just fell in love with the art of pro wrestling. But no, like I feel like a lot of people make that mistake of when they're trying to become a wrestler, they're like, okay, who do I get in front of to get me where I want to be? I was never that type. I was like, how do I just become better? You know, I fell in love with the process of it. I love my life. I love the struggle. I love the training. I love, like, you know, the amount of times you'd be on like zero

sleep or whatever, like on a train, in a terrible B&B, because that's all you can afford or whatever, like, you know, traveling to the next show. And then like, you know, all the stuff you do, I kind of love when stuff goes wrong or whatever and you just end up in bizarre situations and then you're kind of just like I love the idea that like oh you'd have to be crazy to do this. Like you'd have to be mental and the same person would do this. You do have to be a little bit crazy. You have to be a little bit crazy and I kind of love that like no one in their right mind would do this right now or would keep going. I kind of like oh that's what we do. No one gets it. We get it. And then on top of that you look at the odds right like how many people who are

training end up getting signed by WWE and it's a tiny tiny fraction of a percentage. I know. I remember training in Germany. I did a bit with WXW and I remember in their school who was taking the training. It was me and a bunch of guys and I remember the trainer saying that like odds are, no one in this room will make it. And I remember being like, I'm going to make it. You know, But yeah, I think that's the difference is like I'm a wrestler and it's not WWE that have made me a wrestler. I'm a wrestler because that's what I do and that's what I've decided I'm doing with my life. So like if it all went away, if WW went away, I'd still be a wrestler, you know, whereas a lot of people are just very, who do I get in front of to get me into WB? You know, like you just have to put the work in and I'll almost fall in love with the journey.

because if you don't love the stuff you're doing when you're trying to get to where you want to go, you're not going to love it when you get there either. You're just going to pick, because it's how it is as well. There's always the next thing. Like, win the title. What's next? Do WrestleMania. What's next?

You just have to love it enough to still find, to always enjoy it, you know? You can tell how much passion you have bell to bell. Like when you're actually in there in a match, you're such a technician. Where did that come from? I think it's just the style that we're trained in my gym in Fight Factory. Like we're very technical. And I just kind of developed a very big appreciation for that side of it, for technical wrestling. I love it.

I love the art of trying to outdo the person you're wrestling. And, you know, when there's no plan and you just get in and wrestle someone, that's what it becomes. It's like it's give and take, but it's also like you're trying to outdo the person you're with. And that can be very real when you're just wrestling around. And it's fun. I love that. We see lots of face-to-face interactions in the ring. And you had this one recently with Becky. But I didn't see that kick coming.

Like that came out of nowhere. Like the slap, maybe a punch, a tackle, but a kick. What's the idea behind that? The idea behind kicking her? I mean, like, it could have been anything. You decided to go with a kick. Hey, I told her when I was walking down the ramp, I wanted to put my foot through her school.

And I did. I was just delivering on my words. Quite literally. Yeah. I mean, it was cool. Thank you. Kicked her head off. I did.

Talk to me about the end of your match at Queen of the Ring. How would you describe what happened with Nia Jax? She exploded my ribs. Did you break your ribs? No. No, I was fine. I was okay. It looked bad.

Yeah. Yeah, it was bad. It was tough. The Samoan drops were tougher. Yeah. Honestly. It's a rough match. I feel like...

She's a beast. She is a beast. Did you get winded? Like, if it looked, it looked brutal. Definitely. But it was the end of the match. So luckily, it was okay. Yeah, it just, like, I'm shocked when you say that she exploded your reason.

I'm shocked that you didn't break several of them. Me too. Me too. But, um, look, every, Everyone asks me about that. I feel like that was a moment that I carved out for myself and like a month into raw. So it was worth it. Why were the Samoan drops worse?

Oh, I was winded on those. And then how do you keep pushing forward? Oh, you just got to do it. You know? I mean, J.D. McDonough wrestled a whole match with a punctured lung. Isn't that insane? No, that was crazy. I remember watching that live.

And he did the same thing on an indie, not like a few years before, where he went out through the bottom and cracked his head off a railing. And I remember watching it live and just going, oh, not again, Jordan. But I didn't know how bad it was. When I heard Pung Shored Lung, I was like, oh, my God, that's a career-threatening, life-threatening. I thought it was really bad. But look, I don't know how he's just, he's got an insane work ethic, insane Iron Man mentality. The iron lung. Yeah.

Yeah. It's, he's a great person to have to, like, look up to for that kind of stuff as well. You could hear the concern in Michael Cole's voice. Like, guys, somebody needs to come out here and check on J.D.

McDonough, like the sound of his head hitting the announce table is, is terrifying. Oh, horrible. I'm really glad I didn't know how bad it was on the night. I had no idea. But I did see it happen.

I just go, oh, no. What did Seamus, mean to you growing up in Ireland. Oh, he's just a legend, isn't he? He's always been there. He's so long. So it was really cool to get to do Celtic warrior workouts with him. He's a bit of an alien. In what way? I just can't figure him out. But he's cool. But what an honor to get asked. Like not everybody gets to do the Celtic warrior workout.

Yeah. I mean, I don't know if he says it to everyone, but he says that, Like I killed him and mine was the hardest. Yeah, I'm ready for round two and he is. Yeah, when you get asked to do that, are you like, okay, well, now I got to think of like the toughest workout I could possibly do. I didn't really think of the toughest. You know, we kept the weight super light, but it was definitely enough. The thing I appreciate about Seamus in those workouts is like he's willing to try anything.

Oh, yeah. So whenever you come in, wasn't he doing Pilates with Maxine Dupree? So funny. Yeah, so funny. I think that morning as well, he had just been on, we were on the West Coast and he'd been on like a really, really long flight. So it's like super early. I think you've been like stuck with the middle seat, that kind of thing. And, you know, but I was like, oh, I hope you're ready to work.

So where do you go from here? It's been an absolutely incredible 2025. Where does it go from here? Well, I feel like it just keeps going up because that's the only way it's. gone so far. And I feel like for me to say where it goes next and what my next possibility is, it almost feels like I'm creating my own ceiling because so much has happened that I didn't even think possible. So I'm just going to keep rolling with the punches and seeing what happens because this didn't exist a year ago. When Becky came down to NXT, I didn't think that

was ever possible. Like, no, she's on raw. I didn't think, you know, there was a time when it was unusual for people on Raw or SmackDown to come down to NXT or it didn't happen. So I just didn't think that that was a possibility. I never in my life thought that I would beat Becky Lynch for the NXT women's championship. She just didn't even cross my mind as a possibility. Does that reality set in after the one, two, three? And you're like, that's Becky Lynch.

And I just won. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't hit you when it should. It's like random points. Like I, in the morning I did the rumble. I was fine the whole day, find the rumble. But it was when the morning of, when I went down to get my coffee,

I think I had morning media. So I was going down at like 7 a.m. to get into makeup. I was picking up my coffee and just at Starbucks, just like tears. Just started rolling down my face. It just hit me like, I'm doing the Royal Rumble today. I'm walking into the Rumble as Intercontinental Women's Champion. I'm going to run that ramp with the title around my waist, you know? So it hit me that morning randomly getting coffee.

Are those tears of gratitude and appreciation? Are they tears of like, it's pretty nerve-wracking? No, it's all gratitude and appreciation. I feel like I'm very good at living in the moment, but also like being grateful and accepting for how much I've done. It's never lost on me how cool my life is and what I'm doing. Like, I love my life. Do you see a world?

championship in your future at some point. I hope so. I definitely love the opportunity. When you watch that, like, I was absolutely blown away by the women's triple tread at WrestleMania. And it lights such a fire in you when you see a match like that. Like, yeah, okay. Like, I got to step up. I got to do that. So yeah, I definitely do. I don't know, like, if you're not in it to go all the way, like, main event, WrestleMania, then I don't know what you're doing. Yeah. You know.

I feel like you've stepped up your promos a lot. Thank you. Where did that come from? Where are you? It's a whole new side of you. I feel like that's the point I was trying to make when I was talking about being you going through the curtain. Yeah.

I think I've decided to not act and just be me. And I think that if I can, if I know who I am, then. and I go through the curtain and I just stay that person. We'll see what happens. You hit Becky with some pretty good ones, some pretty good lines. There's more where that came from. Oh, you cooked her, as the kids say. Yeah.

So there's more where that came from? Hell yeah. Plenty left to give. I like it. Yeah. Unbelievable year that you're having right now. And like you said, just when you thought it couldn't get any better, you just keep building on that and keep building on that.

And keep building on that. I'm so pumped to see what the rest of this year has in store for you. Thank you. Me too. It's been a fun first year on rock. Yeah. How do you adopt this? I don't know, but I'm sure I'll find a way.

That's what you'll do. Thank you for this great conversation. Congratulations on this amazing year. And I will ask you the question that I ask everybody at the end of every conversation. Please don't be the Mount Rushmore. It will not be a Mount Rushmore. It will be much easier. Okay.

gratitude such a huge part of my life. We already spoke about it a little bit. Before I go to sleep every night, I say out loud three things I'm grateful for. When I wake up in the morning, I do it again. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? I'm really grateful for my fiance. He keeps me grounded and he's just the best person I ever met in my life. I'm like, I'm so glad that we've had each other for so long. We've been through everything together. We've seen, we've seen each other since the start of both our careers. So I don't know how I'd do this without him. I'm grateful for the opportunities that I've gotten so far in my career.

Like I've been really, really lucky and healthy for the majority of it, you know, and you can't control when stuff happens. But I feel like I've been really, really lucky with opportunities and health. And I'm grateful for all the friends I've made. just throughout this, like all the people that have been on my journey with me. Like, the people that wrestled in my very first match are still, I'm very close to. I love my friends in Orlando. Like, I really do just love my life, so I'm grateful for all of it.

Do you feel, do you find like you have to not smile as much when you're wrestling so people will take you seriously? I get told the opposite. Sometimes I worry I have like a resting bitch face. I don't, I feel like you smile nonstop. Really? Yeah. Oh, wow.

That's changed then because. Maybe you just brought it for this interview. Maybe, yeah. I'm really not a smiley person. I'm the one that people are like, would you ever just smile? All right. So stop smiling for a second? I can't.

I can't right now. Maybe I'm just really happy today. I don't know. Amazing. I mean, how could you not be happy? Yeah. Life's good. Life's really good.

You said your interview before this was, how old was he? An interviewer who was 11 years old this morning. He was turning 12, a day of backlash, and he's going to be there. What a birthday present to interview the inaugural Women's International Champion. Yeah, it was his first interview. That's incredible. Thank you. Well, thank you again for this.

No, thank you. This is really fun. No, super fun. And I appreciate you making the time. Also, look at these. How much taller does these make you? Don't know. I do love a chunky boot.

Three, four inches? They're chunky. A chunky boot and a skimky boot and a small. skirt. I love. That's kind of become your trademark. I'd like that. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Like you wore something very similar to this on Raw. Yeah. These are the boots I kicked Becky in the head with. That would hurt. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. There we go, my friends. Thank you so much for listening to this episode and for listening all the way until the end. Huge thank you to Lyra Valkyria for finding some time.

before backlash to film this interview, to record this interview, and I'm pumped. I'm pumped to see what the rest of this year has in store for her. It's already been an amazing four, four and a half months, but she still has the rest of the entire year to make it even bigger and even better. Snap a screenshot and tag us. Let us know you listen to this episode. She's that real underscore Valkyria. I'm at Chris Van Fleet and grab those tickets for our two live live in and around L.A. If you're coming to L.A. for Money in the Bank, June 6th, I will see you there. And then New York City, if you live in and around that area, or if you're going to be at SummerSlam, that's August 1st. Tickets are on sale at CVVTX.com. CvvTiX.com. And let me know where we should do

our next live show. Leave it in the comments if you're listening on Spotify. We're planning to do, I think this is, these are, we've done six. This will be six live shows here. we're planning to do like six to ten every year. And I've had a lot of people say you should come to the UK. Well, I would love to come to the UK. Where in the UK should we come? Is there a WWE event that we could do it before or after? Let me know. I would love to be there. I'll wrap this one up with a great quote from Vince Lombardi. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will. Be great, be grateful.

We will see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got Mr. Kennedy. Canada, joining us on Thursday. We'll see you right back here for that one. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley.

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