Lyra Valkyria Defeats Ivy Nile, Retains WWE Women's Intercontinental Title On Raw
Just 50 days into her history-making reign as the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion, Lyra Valkyria was met with her toughest challenge yet in Ivy Nile. Monday's episode of "WWE Raw" saw Valkyria brave "The Pitbull's" incredible strength, and despite a hurt knee, Valkyria walked out of the ring still the Women's Intercontinental Champion.
As soon as the opening bell rang, the champion quickly pounced on the challenger. Valkyria overwhelmed her opponent until Nile managed to find a right hook on the champion, and while the playing field evened out following Nile's counterattack, things shifted after Nile began exclusively targeting Valkyria's knee.
Valkyria began to show signs of distress throughout the rest of the match, often clutching her knee as Nile continuously attacked it. Valkyria failed to cinch in several pin covers as a result of her hurt leg, and nearly lost the match after the American Made star cinched in a brutal ankle lock.
Things only unraveled for the challenger after Valkyria strategically dodged a Helluva Kick attempt. Nile's foot became stuck on the top turnbuckle, and Valkyria quickly used the challenger's compromised position to set up and connect with a Nightwing for the win.
Monday marked Valkyria's second Women's Intercontinental Championship defense. Her first title defense saw her defend the title against Dakota Kai on the February 24 episode of "Raw" in a Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals rematch. Nile ambushed a celebrating Valkyria after the latter's inaugural title defense, leading to Monday's midcard match-up. Valkyria's next challenger for the Women's Intercontinental Championship has not been determined.
Valkyria's title defense is the first of three championship matches announced for Monday's episode of "Raw," the others being a match between the Viking Raiders and The Creed Brothers, followed by a WWE Women's World Championship match between IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley.