The inevitable shift after the Raw Tag Title loss
Last Monday night, the outcome in the ring was supposed to be a standard defense. Instead, the June 22 edition of Raw served as a clear inflection point for the women's division. When Paige and Brie Bella secured the win over Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, the story shifted instantly from the championship result to the body language of the losers.
Valkyria has been playing the scrappy underdog with high-velocity strikes, but the cracks appeared the moment that three-count landed. Her frustration wasn't just a reaction to dropping the straps. It was a calculated transition.
Why the turn is the only path forward
Sticking Valkyria in the shadow of a veteran like Bayley was a useful short-term move to build heat, but it reached its ceiling at 14 minutes into the match. When the pinning sequence ended, Valkyria didn't check on her partner. She exited the ring with a cold, detached indifference that tells you exactly where the booking is headed.
The creative team is clearly positioning her to move away from the high-flying babyface style. If you watched her work during the NXT transition, you know her ground-and-pound game is far more effective than her aerial sequences. Expect a shift toward a more aggressive, submission-heavy offense as she moves into a solo program.
The booking flaw behind the change
There is a glaring issue with how this division handles its secondary titles. WWE keeps recycling established veterans into these tag slots, leaving limited room for fresh talent to establish genuine momentum. The decision to have them go over Bayley and Valkyria feels like a move to protect the established star power of the Bellas and Paige, but it hampers the long-term growth of the newer roster members.
This reliance on older acts creates a bottleneck. As noted in recent reports on potential heel turns, the roster density is becoming a massive headache for creative. If they don't pull the trigger on a Valkyria heel turn within the next three weeks, she risks cooling off permanently. Being the moody counterpart to Bayley’s 'role model' persona is a trap that leads directly to mid-card obscurity.
The prediction
Valkyria will initiate a clean break from Bayley before the July 4th special event. She’ll look to cement herself as a singular, dangerous force. Mark my words: she’s moving out of the tag division and right into the crosshairs of the current Raw Women’s Champion. Expect a brutal beatdown that sets the tone for a SummerSlam build. She has the technical ceiling to make it work; she just needs the creative permission to stop playing nice.
