7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (3 Mar - Results & Review)

Ups…

7. Getting IC Title Back On Track

WWE Raw Lyra Valkyria Ivy Nile
WWE

Despite the match itself being a disappointment, we need to give some praise to the Women’s Intercontinental Championship match for one reason: it happened.

Lyra Valkyria won the Women’s IC title in January, promised to be a fighting champion, and then promptly sat on the sidelines for several weeks, competing in the Royal Rumble and for a spot in the Elimination Chamber, while the title sat undefended.

That changed last week when Lyra defeated Dakota Kai, and she followed up by beating Ivy Nile on Monday night. While the match this week didn’t hit, what’s important right now is getting out there and putting the title on the line, getting it – and its champion – over by fighting. Valkyria is not a super-strong promo, nor is her character a gregarious person outside the ring. Her character is primarily in the ring, so that’s where she should be as often as possible.

Let the stories for Lyra and the new IC title be told in the ring, with the champ defending her strap regularly. Give her feuds a bit of focus here and there to help build sympathy and connection, but if they can follow the NXT formula of letting Valkyria get over in the ring, she’ll be in much better shape.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.