Lyra Valkyria set for central WWE role heading into 2026

WWE is preparing to elevate Lyra Valkyria as a central figure in its women's division heading into 2026, company officials and people familiar with booking told reporters, a move that follows a breakout 2025 campaign and places her at the center of a developing storyline on Monday Night Raw. Valkyria, 28, who performs on Raw, lost a singles match to Roxanne Perez on the October 6 episode and was later involved in a backstage confrontation with Perez, Raquel Rodriguez and Bayley, the participants in the current angle.

Valkyria has been with WWE since 2020 and rose through NXT after beginning her run on the U.K. circuit. She made her NXT debut in December 2022 and her main roster debut on Raw in May 2024. Over the past year she has held the NXT Women's Championship, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship for a brief period, and was the inaugural WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion in 2025. She held that title for nearly six months before Becky Lynch defeated her at the Money in the Bank event on June 7.

Her high-profile program with Lynch ran across multiple premium live events and concluded at SummerSlam, where Valkyria challenged again for the Intercontinental title. Since then...