Lyra Valkyria knows she belongs with the best after Queen of the Ring

The former NXT Champ believes she’ll emerge victorious next time.

Despite getting squashed like a grape in the closing moments of the Queen of the Ring final against Nia Jax, Lyra Valkyria staged an impressive display as she fought valiantly in a classic David Davina versus Goliath tale that saw the giant prevail.

“It was all right there,” said Valkyria in a WWE digital exclusive. “I felt so good, so confident. And obviously now, not only did I lose the chance to be Queen of the Ring, a chance to go to SummerSlam, I feel like I been hit by a truck.”

In the final stretch, Valkyria, who did a great job of ducking and dodging Jax’s more potent offense, wiggled out of sure doom when she escaped an attempt of a Samoan drop from the middle rope. As she landed on her feet, Valkyria tried to powerbomb Jax off the ropes. Instead, The Irresistible Force held on and dropped straight down on Valkyria with a crushing Annihilator (aka Banzai Drop) to score the victory.

Still, of the three superstars recently drafted from NXT who competed in the respective King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, Valkyria was the only performer from the developmental brand to make it to the finals. As she develops on Raw, that feat will likely serve her well as she builds credibility with WWE’s broader audience. Reflecting on what that means, Valkyria showed signs of the classic babyface pluckiness as she believes she has what it takes to make it on the main roster.

“Who comes to Monday Night Raw and gets this far in their first month? I know now I belong in that spot. I know now that I can hang with the very best. This is just the start of Lyra Valkyria’s journey. I’ll get back to where I was. And next time, next time I get a shot, I’ll make sure I come out on top.”