WWE accidentally made a mistake with Lyra Valkyria, veteran claims (Exclusive)
Lyra Valkyria became the inaugural WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion when she defeated Dakota Kai on the January 13 episode of RAW. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, believes the creative team failed to recognize the importance of the new title.
On February 10, Valkyria lost a Women's Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Bayley on RAW. Many fans criticized the outcome, especially as the Irish star has not defended her title yet.
The latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo featured a discussion about the booking of the Women's Intercontinental Championship. Russo told host Dr. Chris Featherstone that writers probably forgot about Valkyria's lack of title defenses before announcing the Bayley match:
"Lyra Valkyria wins the Intercontinental title, then she has a Chamber [qualifying] match with Bayley, loses to Bayley before one title defense. Chris, I guarantee you there is a good chance that nobody at that company even caught that. I guarantee you, bro. I guarantee you nobody even caught that." [4:12 – 4:35]
Watch the video above to hear how Russo would have booked Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson before their WWE departures.
What's next for Bayley and Lyra Valkyria?
As a result of her victory, Bayley will compete inside the Elimination Chamber on March 1 against five other women. The winner will challenge for Rhea Ripley's Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 41 on April 19-20.
Dr. Chris Featherstone agreed with Vince Russo that Bayley should have defeated someone other than Lyra Valkyria to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match:
"Out of all the possible names, the women's wrestlers in there, loaded roster, and mentally wouldn't you want to protect the Intercontinental Champion fresh off of winning the championship? Doesn't that [losing] automatically degrade the championship if you have her lose a match before even defending the title?" [4:36 – 5:03]
On February 17, Valkyria's next opponent will be determined when Dakota Kai and Ivy Nile face off on RAW for the right to challenge for her title.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.