Posted on 5/20/125 by Colin Vassallo
WWE Women’s Intercontinental champion Lyra Valkyria sat down
with Chris Van Vliet on Insight for a 55-minute interview
where she discusses being inspired by Becky Lynch, becoming
the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion, the
success of Irish wrestlers and more!
On her inspiration:
“That was Becky. She was the first. When I saw NXT, the very
first thing I saw was her Irish dancing debut. That was it.
I was already a fan, but that was what set the ball rolling
of she must have started somewhere, she didn’t just spawn
over there. If she’s from Ireland, is there somewhere to do
this here? That was what made me go down the Wikipedia
rabbit hole of where is there to train in Ireland.”
On getting to work with Becky Lynch in WWE:
“It’s just crazy. She’s the one that broke all the glass
ceilings, the one that did it all. But she didn’t just do it
and succeed; she went and did things that no one ever
thought possible. So I have a crazy level of respect for
that. Because once someone does something, there’s all these
studies about the human capability, how much they can go.
[The 4-minute mile] They thought it was impossible to do it
faster than the current record. But then once one person
broke that. And 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.
Then suddenly, it just opens up the floodgates and suddenly
there’s no limit. So to have a woman from my tiny country of
Ireland to have gone that far, I really feel like if she
can, then why not me?”
On being one of the few wrestlers from Ireland to make it in
WWE:
“It’s crazy. But also, you look at how small Ireland is, and
how many of us are on Raw right now and doing so well. It’s
crazy, I feel like we’re really good at producing the best.”
On why the Irish wrestlers are so successful in WWE:
“I don’t know what it is. I feel like it’s just our approach
to this, and how we see what happens between the ropes. We
have this certain grit about us, we train on the mats. When
I started, we didn’t have a ring, we were learning to bump
on mats, that kind of thing. I don’t know, there’s just a
very kind of, how bad do you want it? Don’t let anyone
besides you do more push-ups than you.
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. We are very competitive,
but also supportive. I feel like there’s two types of
competitor. You can be nasty with your competition, or you
can [be supportive]. I want you to do great so I can do
better. 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. And I love that about wrestling.”
On winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship:
“[It’s brought me] A lot of confidence. 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, that’s where I’m like, no matter what outside
noise there is, I’m completely in control of what I do here.
So that’s kind of where my power is. No one can take that
away.”
On when she first heard about winning the title:
“I never was a part of that conversation. I just 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 it feel when you were told that?
“Amazing. 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 it never hits me in the moment. It hit me
when I was driving home and taking my bags out of the car on
the Tuesday. The title is just sitting in my bag, the zip
opens, and I’m like, Oh yeah, that’s the Intercontinental
Championship. I won that. I brought that home. That’s when
it hits me. It’s never when it should.”