WWE Speed is expanding. The short-form in-ring series debuted after WWE WrestleMania 40, pitting male WWE superstars against one another in contests with three-minute time limits. Airing exclusively on X (formerly known as Twitter), WWE Speed is WWE’s latest experiment with digital media, as the sports-entertainment giant already has exclusive programming across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. WWE Speed has already reached significant success, as the series is generating around 1.5 million viewers per episode. That success has prompted WWE to double down on its WWE Speed divisions, as the company is set to introduce a WWE Speed Women’s Championship in the coming weeks.
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Lyra Valkyria Discusses WWE Speed Women’s Title Tournament
One of those competitors vying for the new WWE Speed gold is Lyra Valkyria. The Dublin native is set to compete in the inaugural WWE Speed women’s match when she takes on IYO SKY in the first round of the WWE Speed Women’s Championship Tournament.
Speaking to ComicBook, Valkyria detailed that her strategy going into this three-minute time limit is aided by her already established technical style.
“I think you have to look at it differently in the sense that there’s no time to wear your opponent down. There’s a lot more urgency,” Valkyria said. “I feel like my personal style actually suits this tournament a lot because I’m quite technical. You just have to get your opponent’s shoulders on the mat for three seconds, and I feel like my style is pretty well suited to do that.”
Valkyria is no stranger to bracket-style competition. The former WWE NXT Women’s Champion competed in the Queen of the Ring tournament earlier this year, defeating Dakota Kai, Zoey Stark, and IYO SKY before falling short to Nia Jax in the finals.
“It’s a very different style tournament,” Valkyria compared the upcoming WWE Speed Women’s Championship Tournament to the Queen of the Ring. “Especially with having three minutes to get a job done. Normally you’ve got time to wear your opponent down, incapacitate them, or try hit your signature stuff, but this is a whole new mental game. It has different kind of strategy, a different mindset going in. It’s pretty different ball game to the Queen of the Ring tournament.”
The WWE Speed Women’s Title will be the fourth female championship on WWE’s main roster, joining the WWE Women’s Title, the WWE Women’s World Championship, and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. Rumors have swirled that WWE could be looking to bring a midcard women’s prize into the fold soon, and those rumblings were amplified by the introduction of the NXT Women’s North American Championship for the company’s developmental brand.
“I think so,” Valkyria responded when asked if the WWE Speed Women’s Title could fill the women’s midcard title gap on the main roster. “It’s definitely going to provide an opportunity for a lot of women in the locker room that are looking to step up. Even if you look at the first round matches, you just don’t know [who could win]. Maybe some women are more suited to trying to get the job done in three minutes and we could see people getting that chance to show what they can do that wouldn’t normally be in the spotlight.”
Valkyria battles IYO SKY on WWE Speed today, September 4th, at 12 PM ET, airing exclusively on X.
