Cusack was reported to have signed with WWE on 20 January 2020, now operating under the ring name Aoife Valkyrie.[1] Valkyrie competed in her first match on
NXT UK on 17 January 2020, defeating
Amale. She then defeated
Isla Dawn the next night on 18 January 2020, and defeated Amale again on the same night. On 26 March 2020, Valkyrie defeated
Nina Samuels.[7]
In February 2020, Valkyrie toured with WWE's US-based
NXTbrand for the first time, wrestling on two
house shows in
Florida. Valkyrie defeated
Aliyah on 14 February in
Tampa, followed by defeating Jessi Kamea, MJ Jenkins, and
Taynara on 15 February in a
six-woman tag team match at a
Fort Pierce house show, where she teamed up with
Mia Yim and Rita Reis.[7]
Valkyrie made her return to television on the 17 September 2020 episode of NXT UK in a winning effort against Isla Dawn, and on 29 October 2020 she competed against Dani Luna, again in a winning effort. Valkyrie remained undefeated until 29 April 2021 when she lost to
Meiko Satomura.[8][9]
NXT Women's Champion (2022–2024)
Valkyrie remained with NXT UK until its closing in fall 2022, then moving to the
U.S. later in the year to wrestle in
NXT under the ring name Lyra Valkyria. On 13 December, Valkyria made her debut on NXT, defeating Amari Miller.[10] On the 21 March episode of NXT, Lyra beat
Ivy Nile to qualify to the
Ladder match for the
NXT Women's Championship at
NXT Stand & Deliver,[11] though she didn't manage to win the title at the event.[12] On the 9 May episode of NXT, she beat
Kiana James to advance to the semi-final of the tournament for the vacated
NXT Women's Championship.[13] On 23 May, she also defeated
Cora Jade to advance to the final, facing
Tiffany Stratton at
NXT Battleground, where she ultimately lost.[14][15] However, she earned another opportunity at the championship by securing a victory over former NXT Women's Champions
Roxanne Perez and
Indi Hartwell in a triple threat proposed by champion
Becky Lynch on the 3 October.[16] Earlier in the show, Valkyria noted she was inspired by Lynch's NXT debut and remarked on the elder's impact on Irish wrestling.[17] Valkyria bested Lynch to win her first NXT Women's Championship at Night 1 of
NXT: Halloween Havoc.[18] On the 21 November episode of NXT, Valkyria successfully defended her title against
Xia Li in her first title defense.
On 2 January 2024, at
NXT: New Year's Evil, Valkyria successfully defended her NXT Women's Championship against
Blair Davenport.[19][20] After their match,
Lola Vice tried to cash in her
Breakout Tournament contract, only to be stopped by
Tatum Paxley, who was obsessed with Valkyria since December 2023.[20][21] At
NXT Vengeance Day on 4 February, Valkyria successfully retained the NXT Women's Championship against Perez and
Lola Vice, who cashed in her Breakout Tournament contract while the match was in progress to make the match a triple threat match.[22] On the 20 February episode of NXT, Valkyria defended the NXT Women's Championship against
Shotzi. During the match, Shotzi suffered a torn
ACL and Valkyria won by referee's decision. NXT General Manager
Ava announced an open challenge for the NXT Women's Championship match, which
Lash Legend answered. Valkyria successfully retained the title against Legend.[23] At
NXT: Roadblock, Valkyria and Paxley faced
The Kabuki Warriors (
Asuka and
Kairi Sane) for the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship as a reward from Valkyria to Paxley for the latter not interfering with the former's title matches in the previous week but failed to win the title after Valkyria inadvertently kicked Paxley. After the match, Perez attacked Valkyria and injured her arm.[24][25] Valkyria returned and attacked Perez two weeks later, and a match between Valkyria and Perez for the NXT Women's Championship at
NXT Stand & Deliver was made official where she lost the title to Perez by submission, ending her reign at 165 days.[26][27] On the following episode of NXT, Paxley turned on Valkyria while saying that the title does not belong to Valkyria anymore.[28] On the following week of NXT, Paxley revealed that her obsession with Valkyria was only because she had the NXT Women's Championship. Later that night, Valkyria attacked Paxley after her match, and NXT general manager
Ava announced a
triple threat match for the NXT Women's Championship involving Perez, Valkyria and Paxley at
Spring Breakin', where Valkyria failed to win the title in her final match for NXT.[29][30]
Raw (2024–present)
On Night 2 of the
2024 WWE Draft, Valkyria was promoted to the
Raw brand.[31] On the 6 May episode of Raw, Valkyria made her on-screen debut saving
Women's World Champion Becky Lynch from a beatdown by
Damage CTRL's
Dakota Kai,
Iyo Sky and
Kairi Sane, and at the same time defeated Kai in the first round match of the
Queen of the Ring tournament in her main roster in-ring debut.[32] She proceeded to defeat
Zoey Stark in the quarter-finals and Sky in the semi-finals but lost to
Nia Jax in the finals at
King and Queen of the Ring, marking her first loss on the main roster.[33][34][35] On the 10 June episode of Raw, Valkyria faced Iyo Sky in a losing effort. After the match, she was attacked by the rest of Damage CTRL and was saved by
Katana Chance and
Kayden Carter, thus forming an alliance between Valkyria, Chance and Carter.[36] On the 25 June episode of Raw, Valkyria qualified for the women's
Money in the Bank ladder match by defeating
Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane in a triple threat match. At
Money in the Bank on July 6, Valkyria lost the Money in the Bank ladder match after Tiffany Stratton grabbed the Money in the Bank briefcase.[37][38]