A few months ago, WWE fans were bemoaning how the company’s women’s division had gotten dull. No one is saying that now, thanks to the reigns of Iyo Sky, Tiffany Statton, and Becky Lynch, along with callups such as Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia. Then there’s Lyra Valkyria. The former NXT Women’s Champion was struggling on the main roster until she and Lynch feuded over the Intercontinental Championship. The rivalry has turned Valkyria into a fan favorite who could help lead the division for many years to come, but just where did she get her start? And who is that fiancé she’s with who has been mocked on social media and even by Becky Lynch herself during a promo?
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Lyra Valkyria’s Real Name Is Aoife Cusack
She Got Her Valkyrie Ring Name From A Popular Book
- Lyra is from Dublin, Ireland, just like Finn Balor and Becky Lynch.
- She was initially called Valkyrie Cain, a character from Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant.
- Valkyria beat the future JD McDonagh to become the Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Ireland has produced some huge WWE stars over the past decade, including Finn Balor and Becky Lynch. You can now add Lyra Valkyria to the list. Born as Aoife Cusack in Dublin, Ireland in 1996, she took to wrestling at just the age of 18, training at Dublin’s Fight Factory Pro Wrestling. Its founder was one Finn Balor. Aofie Cusack isn’t exactly a great wrestling name, so in the ring she became Valkyrie Cain, the main character from a series of Irish fantasy novels called Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. In a 2018 tweet, she tagged her favorite author and wrote:
“Discovered this series when i was 12 years old and at 22, i still relate and connect with the characters so much. @DerekLandy is an Irish hero and the reason i wrestle as Valkyrie.”
Lyra has a background in dance and MMA, making her a natural for the athleticism of professional wrestling. Throughout her 20s, she became a big star in Ireland and across Europe, and was so good that she actually competed in intergender matches. In 2018, she wrestled a six-way match against five men, including Jordan Devlin (you now know him as JD McDonagh), and LJ Cleary (more on him later). Not only that, but she won, becoming the new Irish Junior Heavyweight Champion! With talent like that, it was only a matter of time before WWE came calling.
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Lyra Valkyria Got Her WWE Start In NXT UK
She Changed Her Name When She Moved To NXT
- In NXT UK she went by the name of Aoife Valkyrie.
- She missed a year of wrestling due to a torn ACL.
- Lyra beat Becky Lynch to become NXT Women’s Champion at Halloween Havoc 2023.
Lyra signed with WWE in January 2020 and went to the now defunct NXT UK, where she was renamed Aoife Valkyrie. She made her NXT UK debut just one month later and was unbeaten for over a year. Then the worst turn possible for a rising star struck when she tore her ACL and missed a year away from wrestling.
That could have been the end for her, but with NXT UK ending, she moved to America to be at Orlando, Florida’s NXT, where her name changed to Lyra Valkyria. Lyra’s character leaned into Irish mythology as she rose up the ranks before shocking the wrestling world when she beat NXT Champion Becky Lynch at Halloween Havoc in 2023. In one night, The Man turned Lyra Valkyria into a major name. It meant everything to Lyra, who credits her fellow Irishwoman as her inspiration. In 2023, she told The Irish Times:
“Never in my life did I dream that it could be me in the ring until I saw Becky Lynch, the girl from Dublin, Ireland, walk out on NXT doing an Irish dance. And that for me just set the ball rolling.
“You don’t understand how incredible it is to have that role model to aspire to from Dublin. Becky was part of the first women’s main event. And the fact that she was just down the road from me just made it seem that much more attainable.”
After a successful NXT run, Lyra Valkyria joined the WWE main roster as a member of Raw last year. Within no time, she became a Queen of the Ring finalist and the inaugural women’s Intercontinental Champion, but there was just one problem: WWE didn’t give her much of a character. She smiled a lot and unaware fans called her “Bird Lady” because of her elaborate costumes, but it took a Becky Lynch heel turn to bring out the best in Lyra through some rather compelling promos. Now she’s one of the biggest babyfaces on Monday night.
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Lyra Valkyria Is Engaged To Fellow Wrestler LJ Cleary
He Was Ringside At Backlash For Her Becky Lynch Match
- Valkyria has been dating LJ Cleary since 2014.
- He is a Fight Factory Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion with Rich Swann.
- Cleary has fun with people mocking his looks.
The feud with Becky Lych also allowed Lyra Valkyria to introduce her fiancé to the world. Since 2014, Lyra has been in a relationship with indie wrestler LJ Cleary, who is also a Dublin native. Last September, they took their romance to the next level by announcing their engagement. LJ Cleary isn’t a name known to most, but he has wrestled his future wife in the past, has performed in promotions like Progress and Pro Wrestling Noah, and is one half of the current Fight Factory Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions with Rich Swann.
Cleary takes a lot of grief online because, well, with his thin build, long hair, and glasses, he looks like what some might call a dork. It’s common to see people shocked on social media that this is the man Lyra is with. Becky Lynch mocked him in a promo and yelled at him when he sat ringside during her match with Lyra at Backlash. In an interview with Rich Ucchino of Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown, Cleary said he had fun with the teasing, adding:
“I’ve very thick skin. I chuckled, like, I genuinely, I can honestly say, I saw someone, man, I just chuckled, but then to see the support, it was an overwhelming support, it was a very nice feeling.”
Lyra Valkyria is only 28 and can easily dominate WWE for the next decade. She will have the love of her life at her side for it, and before all is said and done, a stack of titles too.
