Lyra Valkyria Beats Dakota Kai to Win 1st Ever WWE Women's Intercontinental Title

Lyra Valkyria defeated Dakota Kai to win the first-ever WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship during the Jan. 13 episode of Raw on Netflix.

The two competitors went back and forth in the tournament finals for the championship, delivering a thrilling performance for the Raw crowd.

As the match came to an end, Valkyria rolled out of the ring to avoid a pinfall and that moment turned the tide in her favor. Back in the ring, she hoisted Kai onto her shoulders before landing her signature move, the "Nightwing," to secure the victory via pinfall and claim the inaugural championship.

The brand-new championship was unveiled back in November prior to Monday Night Raw by general manager Adam Pearce.

"It is my distinct honor to present their own symbol of excellence to fight for," Pearce said to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you the brand new WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship."

To get to the championship match, 12 women battled in a tournament-style format until it came down to two. In the semifinals, Kai defeated Zoey Stark, and Valkyria defeated Iyo Sky, who stepped in for Kairi Sane after she was viciously attacked by the Pure Fusion Collective.

Both rising stars entered Monday's championship with an incredible amount of momentum.

Valkyria took the NXT Women's Division by storm, debuting with a win over Amari Miller at the end of 2022 before moving up to defeat Becky Lynch to become the NXT Women's Champion. She had a hot run with the NXT title before making the leap to the main roster in early 2024.

On the other hand, Kai has had a lengthy run in tag teams, winning the WWE Women's Tag Team titles on several occasions. She also won the NXT Women's Tag Team titles twice with former partner Raquel Gonzalez.

Kai reemerged on the main roster alongside Bayley and Sky, marking the beginning of the dominant Damage CTRL era.

The two have only faced each other twice on the main roster. First, last June in the first round of Queen of the Ring, Valkyria scored the victory in just under nine minutes. The two faced one another again in August, as Damage CTRL defeated the trio of Valkyria, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter.

Prior to Monday night, the two entered the match with one win and one loss apiece against each other.

Given the journey it took to crown the inaugural champion, a rematch between these two history-makers seems inevitable.

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