Lyra Valkyria has overwhelmed her one-time mentor Becky Lynch in a shock outcome to retain her IC belt
This is a breaking news story and is constantly being updated as the story develops
A bloodied Lyra Valkyria has beaten her one-time mentor Becky Lynch in a shock result at WWE Backlash to retain the women’s Intercontinental title.
The Irish star, 28, appeared to suffer a broken nose and kicked out of three Manhandle Slams that Big Time Becks hit during the action-packed match.
Lynch, who returned at WrestleMania before turning on her former protégé, went berserk after the bell and attacked Lyra.
But Lyra raised her arm defiantly with the women’s IC belt as she left the ring victorious, if battered.
The St Louis crowd was red-hot during the All-Ireland Championship bout, serenading both women with chants of “this is awesome” during the clash.
Lyra, whose nose was bleeding, secured the win by reversing a pin attempt from Lynch with one of her own.
It came after a bruising affair that saw both women brawl in and outside of the ring and hit each other with everything in their respective arsenals.
Lynch, who this week rejected claims she was like Hulk Hogan by slamming him as the ‘scummiest person alive’, returned at WrestleMania to partner Lyra in a women’s tag title match.
They won the straps, but Lynch turned on her compatriot the next night on Raw after they lost them again, setting up the grudge match. The spot in the Mania match only opened up because Lyra’s partner Bayley was attacked before the event.
Lynch later revealed she had ambushed Bayley in order to replace her at The Show of Shows, before being confronted by Lyra.
After Lynch returned to WWE at WrestleMania 41 to replace a storyline-injured Bayley, some fans posted memes online calling her Becky Hogan, a nod to Hulk Hogan’s penchant for hogging the spotlight.
Lynch was asked about the memes during WWE’s Raw Recap show on Monday and complained that she’s paid the physical price for the wrestling industry and doesn’t appreciate being compared to “the scummiest person on Earth.”
She fumed: “I wear the scars of what I’ve done on my body. I wear them with pride because of all I’ve given back. And these people go around, they compare me to the scummiest person on Earth after everything I’ve done, after everything that I’ve done for them? I’m supposed to sit here and take it.
“Look at the men’s (division.) Who you got that’s hot and young over there? No, you’ve got a bunch of old lads. And nobody’s saying nothing. Nobody’s saying, ‘Move over CM Punk, move over Seth Rollins’. Nobody’s saying that but they’ll say it to me. So, who’s the bad guy? Why am I supposed to move over?”
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