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00:13Moments away from the Women's Intercontinental Championship Match.
00:20Woo!
00:22Calm down, Cole.
01:00She participates in the final first round matchup in the Queen of the Ring Tournament with an opportunity to advance
01:06to the semi-finals.
01:08Let's head up to the ring.
01:10The great Alicia Taylor.
01:17The following contest is scheduled for one fall and is for the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
01:31Introducing the challenger from Dublin, Ireland, Lyra Burkiria.
01:45And her opponent from Honolulu, Hawaii.
01:51She is the Women's Intercontinental Champion, Sol Ruka.
02:04I want to start with the challenger, Lyra Burkiria, because this is a match nearly one year in the making.
02:09Remember, when she lost at SummerSlam, she could no longer challenge for an Intercontinental Championship opportunity.
02:15That's a stipulation.
02:17As long as Becky Lynch was the champ.
02:20Lynch is no longer the champ.
02:21Lyra's got a chance.
02:23Potentially speaking, Lyra has an opportunity to become Intercontinental Champion once again.
02:27What I'm curious to see is whether or not Lyra Burkiria has developed a killer instinct.
02:33We talked about the difference between winning a champion and becoming a champion and staying a champion.
02:37Killer instinct can make all the difference.
02:39If Lyra shows us that tonight, she technically speaking has what it takes to knock off Ruka.
02:43And I think Lyra may be able to pull that off, because I loved what I saw out of Lyra
02:48last week.
02:49Bayley was in the middle of that interview.
02:51Lyra saw Sol Ruka down the hallway.
02:53She left the interview, walked down to Sol, and basically challenged her for this match tonight.
02:57And Sol, being a fighting champion, decided to put the gold on the line.
03:00Certainly, Lyra sees what she wants and is doing her best to take it.
03:04Whether or not she has what it takes to get past Ruka remains to be seen.
03:07Okay, what does Ruka need to do to win her first title defense here tonight?
03:10Stick with what brought her to the dance.
03:11But Sol Ruka is going to be looking for the Soul Snatcher.
03:14Maybe the most spectacular move in the game right now.
03:16With that said, Sol has to mix it up a little bit.
03:19We know Sol wants to hit the Soul Snatcher, but Lyra knows that as well.
03:23So Sol needs to come at Lyra from different angles.
03:25Give her a different look.
03:26Come out of nowhere with the Soul Snatcher.
03:28And Corey, you're a former champion.
03:29When you win that first title like Sol Ruka did at this level,
03:33I mean, she's been on a high for eight nights now.
03:36Can that come into play here tonight?
03:38Well, there's certainly a level of weight taken off your shoulders if you do pick up a win.
03:41With that said, the path is not going to get any easier.
03:44Sol Ruka, as long as she holds the Intercontinental Championship,
03:46or any title for that matter, is a marked woman in WWE.
03:49Lyra Valcaria.
03:50Nice springboard arm drag into a kip bump and Lyra now.
03:54Nope, out of the way.
03:55And Sol Ruka, again, that quickness.
03:57Here's the hook of the leg and a kick out.
03:59Sol Ruka's a high flyer.
04:00She talks about that a lot, but she says because she's so tall,
04:03it gives her an added advantage.
04:05She's not your typical high flyer.
04:07And there's nothing typical about Sol Ruka from her high-flying abilities to her in-ring style.
04:11The fact is, a product of the WWE Performance Center,
04:14Sol is about as well-trained as anybody can be.
04:16It's what she does with that training now, how she applies it,
04:19that's really going to make or break her.
04:20Yeah, only four years of training, Corey.
04:22She was part of the NIL group.
04:25And now, here's the thing.
04:27For all the flips and tricks somebody can do in the ring,
04:29sometimes you're going to get punched in the mouth.
04:31How do you respond to that?
04:33How do you respond to being body slammed or thrown over the ropes?
04:36Covered by Ruka.
04:37Hook of the leg.
04:38And Lyra kicks out.
04:39That's where the advantage belongs to Lyra Valkyria.
04:41She traveled the globe on the independents before arriving in WWE.
04:45Lyra certainly has the experience advantage.
04:46It's whether or not she's willing to pull the trigger when it's necessary.
04:50And among those who've trained Lyra Valkyria,
04:51none other than SmackDown's newest acquisition, Finn Balor.
04:55Trained Lyra very early on in her career.
04:58And again, champion's advantage for Ruka tonight.
05:01Lyra's got to pin her, submit the champion.
05:03And Lyra now, with Soul up on her shoulders,
05:06maybe looking for Nightwing.
05:07And with that being said, with champion's advantage in effect,
05:10if you're Soul Ruka, you want to win this thing by pinfall or submission.
05:13You don't want any controversy in your first championship defense.
05:16You know that's what Soul's looking for tonight.
05:18A clean, decisive victory.
05:19And now Ruka launches herself off the top rope, caught by Valkyria.
05:25And Lyra.
05:26Lyra trying to power over Soul.
05:28Soul's trying to sink her weight down, making it tougher for Lyra.
05:32And now, oh, over the top rope to the floor.
05:35She's lucky she didn't hit the apron.
05:37Lyra trying to win the Intercontinental title.
05:39Can Soul hold on?
05:51It is all about the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
05:54Lyra Valkyria, the challenger, was the inaugural Intercontinental Champion.
05:58She knows how much that title means.
06:00And Soul Ruka, a former NXT North American Champion, a Speed Champion,
06:05and now the current Intercontinental Champion.
06:07Well, unfortunately, Lyra also all too familiar with the feeling of losing the Intercontinental Championship.
06:12And what a heartbreaker that can be.
06:13And how it can truly turn your entire career upside down.
06:16And it's interesting, Lyra now, she's been so focused on tag team action with Bayley
06:20over the last number of months and trying to win the tag team titles.
06:23And here now, here's the cover and a kick out.
06:26Does that hurt her in this one-on-one matchup?
06:28No, I don't believe it does.
06:29I believe, if anything, Lyra has learned a trick or two from Bayley,
06:32who's been around the game for plenty of times to learn how to become champion,
06:37how to stay champion.
06:38And if Lyra absorbed any of the knowledge Bayley possesses,
06:40I think she's going to be all right in that respect.
06:42Yeah, Lyra made the point to Bayley a little bit ago that,
06:44hey, it's been almost a year since I was champ.
06:46Bayley understands that for a while since Bayley has held gold.
06:50It's almost detrimental to Bayley to be that understanding.
06:53Bayley's so proud of the women's division, sometimes it's at her own expense.
06:56Now, Lyra Valkyria with Ruka in trouble here.
06:59With his inverted Boston Crab.
07:02This could be a game-changer.
07:03It turns things around. Ruka's in trouble.
07:05Tap out here would give Lyra the title.
07:07And this is where the height of Sol Ruka is actually a disadvantage.
07:10Look how deep Lyra has that cinched in.
07:13Ruka nearly bent in half.
07:16And now you got to wonder how much Sol has left.
07:20You're going to learn a lot about the new champion here tonight.
07:22And what I like about this is a very aggressive Lyra Valkyria.
07:24I agree until Lyra started, oh, cover here.
07:28And a kick out.
07:29Lyra started pandering to the fans a moment ago.
07:32There's a time for fun and there's a time to start swinging.
07:34Now is not the time to enjoy yourself.
07:36That step up into Gary into the cover again.
07:38Hooks the leg on the champ.
07:39And a kick out by Ruka at two.
07:45Tremendous electric crowd like they've been all throughout this tour the last couple of weeks here in Europe.
07:50We end things tonight, but two weeks from tonight we're back in London.
07:53As Sol Ruka is whipped across the ring with authority by Lyra.
07:57Who's starting to settle in a little bit now.
08:00Yeah, Lyra sinking into her game plan right now.
08:03She has Sol Ruka exactly where she wants her.
08:05Lyra not trying to push the pace too far.
08:07Not opening herself up to any mistakes.
08:10Yeah, I think the quicker the pace, the better off it will be for the champion.
08:14Now again, whipped into the corner.
08:17Lyra Valkyria wearing Ruka down.
08:19And we're going to learn a lot about Sol Ruka here tonight.
08:23Does she have the guts?
08:25Does she have the fortitude to hang on to the title?
08:30Those intangibles make all the difference.
08:33Ruka.
08:34Shoulders down.
08:35Is it enough to retain in a kick out?
08:46And we are back with a women's Intercontinental Championship match.
08:49Sol Ruka defended against Lyra Valkyria.
08:51Look at a gain.
08:52Sol Ruka.
08:53Both women down off that collision in the center of the ring.
08:56Both women with the same idea.
08:58Both looking for the clothesline.
08:59Both connecting.
09:00I've been very impressed.
09:01We mentioned this a few moments ago, Corey,
09:03with the aggressiveness of Lyra Valkyria tonight.
09:06Her first opportunity at the Intercontinental title in almost a year.
09:09And she does not want to let it go by.
09:12Clearly, Lyra has been watching her calendar,
09:14hoping for the day that Becky Lynch was no longer the Intercontinental Champion.
09:18And now Lyra's going to make the best of this opportunity
09:20because she may not get another one if she fails tonight.
09:22And we've mentioned as well that we're going to learn a lot about the champion,
09:25Sol Ruka, in her first title defense tonight.
09:27Does she have the guts, the resilience, the fortitude to keep the title?
09:34And Sol Ruka, what an uppercut.
09:36We know Ruka has the physical skill set.
09:38It's the intangibles that make or break a champion.
09:41A lot of that has to do with experience.
09:43Sol has had to learn fast here.
09:45Knowing the wins and the whys.
09:48Nice back elbow.
09:49Another one delivered to Valkyria.
09:54Lyra into the...
09:55Whoa!
09:55Oh, Sol Ruka and the German suplex released.
10:02Ruka now looking to push the pace of this one.
10:04Keep her foot on the gas pedal.
10:05Initial drop kick drives Lyra back toward the corner.
10:10So impressive has been the champion.
10:14This is what Ruka was looking for that next gear, that level.
10:17Oh, that runny knee isn't enough.
10:19Hook of both legs now on Lyra.
10:21Who's got a kick out at two?
10:26Take another look at Ruka delivering a full extension missile drop kick to the chest of Valkyria.
10:33Followed up immediately by a running knee.
10:35But still not enough to keep Valkyria down.
10:38And a sensational matchup for the Women's Intercontinental Championship here tonight.
10:42Live from Paris on Monday Night Raw.
10:45Ruka off the top rope and Lyra Valkyria that time was able to intercept.
10:51And now Lyra...
10:52Oh, leg drop!
10:53Back of the neck!
10:53Is it enough to win the title?
10:55And Sol Ruka, though, rolls back to her feet.
10:57Wise decision by the champion.
10:59Oh!
11:00That spinning heel kick by Lyra stacks up the champ.
11:04Sol kicks out at two.
11:06Just surviving.
11:10Valkyria has been extremely impressive tonight.
11:13There we see the leg drop across the back of Ruka's neck.
11:16But almost instinctively, Ruka rolled away.
11:19Put as much space between herself and her challenger as possible.
11:23And it paid off in that instance.
11:25And that's instinct, Corey.
11:26You just can't teach.
11:27Right.
11:27That shows that Sol Ruka has wisdom beyond her years in this business.
11:31And now Lyra.
11:32Tornado DDT.
11:33No, no.
11:34Ruka countered.
11:35Somehow landed on her hands and feet.
11:38Went for the X-Factor.
11:40Lyra turns it into a basement dropkick.
11:44Tremendous action here.
11:46Lyra could be looking for Nightwing.
11:48Has the champion hooked?
11:50Sol Ruka, though, elbows well placed.
11:52Lyra's got a dropper.
11:55Not where Lyra wants to be.
11:57Lyra intercepted a Soul Snatcher, though.
12:00I told you, Lyra Valkyrie is a smart competitor.
12:02She definitely did her homework.
12:04She's prepared for the Soul Snatcher.
12:06And now Soul trying to fight out of this.
12:08Uh-oh, uh-oh.
12:08Lyra may have her in position here.
12:11Ruka, though.
12:13And now stack up, grabs the leg.
12:15Shoulders down and a kick out at two.
12:22Very impressive from Lyra Valkyrie.
12:24His exhaustion starting to set in, perhaps, for the champion.
12:27Uh-oh, uh-oh.
12:28Soul Snatcher.
12:29Lyra got caught up in the ropes.
12:31Sol Ruka for the Soul Snatcher.
12:33From out of nowhere, retains the title.
12:38Here is your winner, and still, the women's Intercontinental Champion,
12:47Soul Ruka.
12:52Some say the first defense is the toughest.
12:56Congratulations to Soul Ruka.
12:58And Lyra was prepared for the Soul Snatcher.
13:01We learned that much throughout the match.
13:03But in the end, the slightest hiccup.
13:06Valkyrie got her foot caught, and the champion made her pay.
13:10Soul Snatcher and still.
13:12I'll give Soul all the credit in the world.
13:15What a title defense here tonight.
13:16I bet it's against the very game, and now upset, Lyra Valkyrie.
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