Lyra Valkyria Expands on Origin of Her Name and Persona

Lyra Valkyria has previously revealed that she took and modified her ring name from Valkyrie Cain, the female protagonist in a series of Irish fantasy novels called Skulduggery Pleasant. But in an interview with the Toronto Sun, she expanded on how that turned into her winged costume and presentation. (Darkstalkers fans may see a hint of recognition.)

“I chose the name Valkyrie, not actually knowing that it was a Marvel character and a goddess and and all this other stuff. I chose it because of an Irish book, where an Irish girl starts a secret new life and has to take on a secret name. Uh, which is kind of how I felt when I started wrestling because I was in school and I didn’t have any friends that were into it. And I actually hid it from all of my friends for a while because I didn’t know what it was going to be like. I didn’t know if I would just go and embarrass myself and then want to run away. I even thought of giving my wrestling school a fake name just in case. It’s my favorite book, Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.”

That’s not where the story, ends, though.

“It turns out, Valkyrie, I also have an interest in mythology and it turns out there’s an Irish version of that called the Morrigan which is this whole Irish goddess that shapeshifts into crows, birds, and I’ve always loved that kind of imagery and the stories connected with that. So it just kind of all merged together and um is a big part of how I present myself in in the ring.”