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Curious Bayley Injury Angle Creates More Chaos For Lyra Valkyria At WrestleMania 41

Will Becky Lynch return to team with Lyra Valkyria at WrestleMania 41?
Rick Ucchino|
Lyra Valkyria needs new partner for WrestleMania 41
Lyra Valkyria needs new partner for WrestleMania 41 | WWE.com

After the year that Lyra Valkyria has had, it's only fitting for her WrestleMania debut plans to get tossed into uncertainty at the very last minute.

While speaking to The Takedown on SI this week, Valkyria called the last 12 months the wildest of her 28 years on this planet. Going from NXT Women's Champion to Monday Night Raw draft pick in the blink of an eye. Transitioning from Becky Lynch protégé to Queen of the Ring finalist and eventually the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion.

“It was straight outta the frying pan and into the fire,” Valkyria said. “I'm really proud of myself for how I hit the ground running and also really excited to see just, if this much can happen in a year, what the Hell is in the future?”

There was no way of knowing just how much Lyra's statement Friday afternoon would foreshadow the several hours that would follow. The crazy in her life only ratcheted upwards after Bayley was mysteriously attacked Saturday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium and ruled medically unable to compete at WrestleMania 41.

Valkyria and Bayley were supposed to challenge Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. It was an odd ball pairing, especially since they were battling each other for the Women's IC Title just days before they earned their No. 1 Contender's status as a team.

There was an instant bond between both women that was noticeable on screen and it carried them to a clean sweep in six team gauntlet match a couple of weeks back on Friday Night SmackDown.

“I didn't expect such chemistry with Bayley," Valkyria admitted. "It’s a really recent development, but I think what actually really helps is how we get on outside of the ring. We just kind of connected instantly and I feel like that plays off massively on screen and in the ring.”

With Bayley now out of the picture, it's back to square one for Lyra. She has just hours remaining to find a replacement tag team partner.

Breaking outside the realm of kayfabe here for a second, the decision to remove Bayley from the match is (putting it mildly) puzzling. She is reportedly healthy and was dropped from the match for unknown storyline purposes.

A returning Becky Lynch makes a ton of sense for this spot. The Man is reportedly under WWE contract and was backstage last night to watch her husband Seth Rollins defeat Roman Reigns and CM Punk in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday.

The last time Lynch was seen on WWE TV, she was mentoring Valkyria and feuding with Liv Morgan. If a spot exists to bring her back this weekend, this is it.

Even if the mystery partner does turn out to be Becky, that still doesn't explain the decision to pull a healthy Bayley from the show. The former WWE Women's Champion started a program with NXT star Roxanne Perez ahead of the Elimination Chamber, but it was quietly dropped in lieu of her story with Lyra.

That move has left Perez, who appeared to be getting the full-time call up to the main roster, hovering in limbo. Perhaps it will prove to be Perez who attacked Bayley and they'll continue their story after WrestleMania is over. It's difficult to fully judge a booking decision until everything plays out. For now, it comes off as a weird decision.

As for Valkyria, she's going to continue rolling with the punches and controlling what she can. Including defending her Women's Intercontinental Championship as much as physically possible. Maybe one day at WrestleMania.

“I would absolutely like to be defending [her title] more and as much as possible. But who's to say I won't going forward? I don't plan on losing this anytime soon. I feel like I'm still just getting started with this and I feel like I've got a lot of really good defenses in the bag.”

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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