Despite her initial hesitancy, former Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria is open to doing more seasons of WWE Unreal for Netflix.
Speaking to ClutchPoints about WWE Unreal Season 2, Valkyria thought for a minute before saying, “I wouldn't say no” to filming another season of Netflix's all-access series.
That may be somewhat surprising, as Valkyria wasn't initially on board with doing the show. As this interview shows, Valkyria came to accept Unreal, especially as she got more comfortable showing who Aoife Cusack is, not just WWE's Lyra Valkyria.
“Beforehand, I don't know how I [felt] about peeling the curtain back; I don't know if I'm a fan of that,” she said, before conceding, “but I completely get the demand for it and why people want to see who we are.”
The SummerSlam meltdown
Nothing can prepare you for filming something like WWE Unreal, especially when something like her infamous SummerSlam 2025 match against Becky Lynch happens. One of the realest moments of Unreal Season 2 was Valkyria's emotional reaction to the SummerSlam bout. Needless to say, it didn't go according to plan, and no one was harder on Valkyria than herself.
“I thought when the cameras [were] following me the day of SummerSlam [that] it would be a lovely story of me talking about how great the final match between Becky [and I] was,” explained Valkyria. “Obviously, it was very different. I didn't plan to be speaking the way I was. It's definitely Aoife that's on Unreal Season 2 and not Lyra.”
This causes an internal conflict for Valkyria, who was initially hesitant to let people in to see Aoife Cusack.
“It's Lyra that I want people to know,” she said, “but also, like people say, you should be yourself.”
Luckily, her candor may have lent itself to Valkyria gaining even more fans.
“People seem to be connecting a lot with how I felt after my match, and at the end of the day, that's what we're trying to do: connect with people,” Valkyria reasoned.
How people responded to the moment
Since the premiere of WWE Unreal Season 2 on Netflix, Valkyria has received several messages from people in the wake of seeing her emotional SummerSlam moment.
“I've had a lot of people message me and say that it really made them feel something and connect with me,” Valkyria revealed. “So, I guess [that's] a good thing.”
When it came to filming her SummerSlam experience, Valkyria came into the day knowing the cameras would be following her, though she admitted that it's hard to spot them amidst everything else going on in the daily life of a WWE Superstar.
However, she did know that she was going to speak with them after her match, regardless of the outcome. While initially tempted to turn down the post-match interview after it didn't go well — “I could have turned away,” she stated — Valkyria “took a little risk” and gave her honest reaction.
Lyra Valkyria waited several anxious months for WWE Unreal Season 2 to premiere
Ultimately, she did the interview, and the result has been good, even if the match didn't go as well as she had hoped. This did mean that she would have to sit in anticipation for about five months. Her SummerSlam match took place on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, the second night of the first-ever two-night SummerSlam. Unreal Season 2 didn't premiere on Netflix until Jan. 20, 2026.
“I didn't know how it would be received. It was a little scary for me, but I think I'm glad; I don't know,” Valkyria said of her emotional moment with a laugh.
Now that it's out in the world, Valkyria is somewhat relieved. However, she still hasn't been able to watch it.
“I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it because it was so hard at the time, and I don't really wanna feel that way again,” she explained, which sounds reasonable.
How could this help her in the long run?
It all comes back to her connection with the fans. For as embarrassing as Valkyria may have feared her SummerSlam breakdown was, she also looked at how it could be good for her career.
Clearly, people resonate with her breakdown at SummerSlam. How could she take that one step closer? Some WWE Superstars are just characters; others are an amalgamation of real elements of the person playing the character.
Judging by what Valkyria said, it sounds like she kept a distance between Lyra Valkyria and Aoife Cusack. Now, she may be willing to break the walls down.
“You know what, maybe it's a good thing that this moment on Unreal broke down the walls a little bit from the Lyra that I show the world on RAW and Aoife; maybe it's a good thing,” she said with a hint of uncertainty remaining. “Maybe it's gonna help me kind of fuse the two and connect with people more. Maybe it's not a bad thing to bring more of Aoife to TV.”
Still, she conceded that “I don't know.” It will only be a matter of time before we see if Valkyria is able to “fuse” her two sides, as she said.
Being Liv Morgan's first opponent back from injury
When Valkyria and I were speaking, WWE was in the midst of their European tour. Valkyria, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, was enjoying the experience.
The European tour was special for Valkyria, who got to visit new countries like Denmark and Poland. It also sounds like there has been a lot of sightseeing along the way.
“I got to wrestling in Copenhagen and Poland, [I had] never been to either,” she revealed. “So, to start 2026 wrestling in two countries I've never been in, that was crazy. Also, Germany in general — the snow over there [is] so pretty, [and] just exploring those places has been so fun.”
Another highlight has been getting in the ring with Liv Morgan, who recently returned to the ring after suffering a shoulder injury in June 2025. WWE clearly has a lot of faith in Valkyria, as evidenced by them having Morgan face her in her first matches back. They had several matches during WWE's Holiday Tour to close out 2025 and to begin 2026 during the European tour.
“It's been amazing,” said Valkyria of sharing the ring with Morgan. “She's one of the top women in the company, so to have been wrestling her all around Europe has been [a] pretty great start to 2026.”
WWE star Lyra Valkyria is looking ahead to 2026 after Unreal Season 2
Valkyria's goal is to stay focused on the task in front of her: exploring her dynamic with her “frenemy” Bayley, who has juggling Jekyll and Hyde-like personalities.
Unreal may have started Valkyria's process of peeling back her layers for audiences, and Bayley is the perfect dancing partner for her evolution. Why? “She brings out my inner idiot a lot,” Valkyria said with a chuckle before promising fans can “expect to see more of that” in 2026.
Ultimately, Unreal taught Valkyria the importance of vulnerability. Now, she is ready to continue moving forward, being more authentically herself than ever.
“Unreal has really shown me [that] breaking down the wall between Aoife and Lyra might not be such a bad thing,” she conceded. “I think I'm going to maybe just try explore being me and evolving that way.”
WWE Unreal Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.
