Never Meet Your Heroes: Lyra vs Becky at Backlash

We asked for it, we begged for it, and finally, one of the newly minted women's midcard titles will take center stage at a Premium Live Event. The Women's Intercontinental Championship will be defended at a PLE for the very first time since the title was introduced in the end of November 2024, and it will be the current and inaugural champion Lyra Valkyria defending against Becky Lynch in what should be a heated battle that went from teacher vs student in NXT, to a good vs evil, emotionally charged fight.

We know how this started. Lyra and Bayley were set to challenge for the Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania, but at Night 1, Bayley was suddenly attacked, leaving Lyra to scramble for a partner. In Night 2, that partner arrived, and unsurprisingly, it was Becky Lynch. Also unsurprisingly, Lyra and Becky defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to capture the titles, and while Becky added another tag title run, Lyra became a double champion.

The following night was the tag title rematch, and that went as expected. Emphasis on expected.

So Becky and Lyra lost the belts back to Liv and Raquel, who became four-time champs, which is a record. Becky picked up Lyra in a show of apparent consolation, only to viciously attack her fellow countrywoman/protégé. I knew this would happen. Everyone saw this coming. Becky Lynch, with the attack, turned heel for the first time in nearly three years, and on the following week, we were promised an explanation.

Boy, did we get it:

Becky comes out and kicks off her promo with jokes that the mystery regarding who attacked Bayley was easy to solve: because Becky did it. Becky stated that Bayley had been targeting her since 2019, and added that Bayley spent time "dancing to everyone's music" and wanting everyoneto like her, while wondering why she's not a bigger start. I'll be honest, I did love it when Becky said that, because Bayley's been doing too much complaining for my liking despite getting everything. Even worse, people are on her side.

When it came to Lyra, The Man stated that Lyra's rise and accolades were all Becky's doing, and added that while the enemy of her enemy was her friend, the friend of her enemy was now her enemy. She lambasted Lyra for teaming with Bayley, but during her rant, Lyra came out and voiced her shame over looking up to Becky, claiming that many people (including Bayley) warned her that Becky would step on anyone to get ahead. Lyra challenged Becky to a match and rushed the ring, only for Becky to exit and refuse to fight her in Kansas City. Lyra decided that she'll fight Becky at Backlash, with her title on the line. Becky continued to rant, only for Lyra to take her down and stand tall at the entrance, but Becky re-emerged and delivered one last sneak attack.

So on May 10, at Backlash in St. Louis, Lyra Valkyria has her biggest bout of her career, as for the first time, she'll defend the Women's Intercontinental Championship under the bright lights of a PLE. Her opponent, none other than the now-evil Becky Lynch, Lyra's former mentor turned villainous foe. Can we now stop with the whole "Becky Hogan" bullshit, please?! It's not easy being the voice of reason, but I've done it for years. So many people moaned about Becky's involvement at WM; accused her of "burying" Liv and Raquel. Well, mainly Liv. They even put Becky in the same category as Charlotte, which is lunacy. Charlotte's out for herself. Becky builds up women. She was building up Lyra with her appearance, and now, she's building up Lyra some more by becoming the ultimate villainess against her.

Also, we got what we wanted. The Women's Intercontinental Championship will take the center stage at a PLE for the first time. Becky helped make that happen. But yeah, keep saying Becky buries talent if that helps you sleep at night. The whole segment was amazing, and I couldn't help but be amused by everything, especially since this was a near direct copycat of Trish Stratus' heel turn on Becky herself two years prior. Attacking someone and replacing them in a tag title bout? Check. Betraying and attacking partner after a loss? Check. Self-serving villainous rant about how she made someone and admitting to the previous attack to begin her evil scheme? Check.

Becky's whole rant reminded me of the famous line from The Dark Knight: "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Becky Lynch went from being on the heroic side of this exact scheme, to becoming the villainess carrying it out; one hell of an ironic twist. As for Lyra, as I said before, this will definitely increase her stock in WWE. Lyra should win this; as I said, this is all to build up Lyra as a key player in WWE's women's division, and also to promote that new title. The build for this bout should be a very good one!