Lyra Valkyria breaks silence amid WrestleMania speculation

Lyra Valkyria broke her silence following an impressive victory on this week's episode of WWE RAW. The 28-year-old won a tournament earlier this year to become the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion.

Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bayley on the March 10 edition of the red brand to become the number one contender for the Women's Intercontinental Championship. She battled Valkyria for the title tonight on WWE RAW but came up short. Valkyria rolled Rodriguez up to retain her title, and The Judgment Day attacked after the match.

Bayley rushed to the ring to help Valkyria, causing Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to retreat. In a backstage interview with Cathy Kelley, Valkyria commented on her victory and noted that she was looking forward to what was next.

"I will say, I should have listened to Bayley more. I definitely did underestimate Raquel, maybe because she finally got some glasses that fit her, I don't know. But what a crowd, what a defense! I got to kick Liv Morgan in the face, she always has that coming. But wow, there is another one done, UK tour successful defense. Lyra Valkyria, witness the rise, who knows what is next?" said the champion. [From 0:34 - 0:58]

The Women's Intercontinental Champion stated that she would give Bayley a title shot following her loss to Raquel Rodriguez earlier this month on WWE RAW. The Role Model took a glance at the title during tonight's show before handing it back to Valkyria.

Former WWE writer criticizes Lyra Valkyria's booking on RAW

Vince Russo recently took the company to task for how Lyra Valkyria has been booked on WWE RAW.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo show alongside Dr. Chris Featherstone, the legend claimed that there is a lack of storylines when it comes to the Women's Intercontinental Championship. He noted that Lyra Valkyria has had several meaningless title defenses recently and compared her title reign to a baseball series.

"It doesn't, bro," Russo said, answering whether the storyline helped either woman. "Everything we're talking about, Chris, the reason why none of this means anything is because there's no stories. These are just wrestling matches, bro. It's like the Mets and the Dodgers having a three-game series and the Dodgers win two out of three. I mean, that's what this is." [5:03 – 5:25]

You can check out the video below:

Lyra Valkyria is not currently scheduled for a match at WWE WrestleMania 41 next month in Las Vegas. Only time will tell if she will be defending the title against Bayley at The Show of Shows.