Lyra Valkyria beat Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice at NXT Vengeance Day on Sunday to retain the NXT Women’s Championship.

What was originally a singles match between Valkyria and Perez became a triple threat when Vice exercised her NXT breakout tournament championship contract midway through the contest. After some hard-hitting action, Valkyria managed to survive and retain her title.

The stage was set for Sunday’s match on the Jan. 16 episode of NXT when Perez earned the No. 1 contendership by competing in a battle royal and subsequently winning a Fatal 4-Way match.

Perez, Fallon Henley, Kelani Jordan and Kiana James were the final four women remaining in the battle royal, and Perez beat the other three in a Fatal 4-Way to earn a title match against Valkyria at Vengeance Day.

The rivalry between Valkyria and Perez started off as a friendly one, but it escalated over time due to the involvement of Tatum Paxley.

Paxley became obsessed with Valkyria to the point that she began following her around and even dressing with her. Despite Valkyria disapproval, Paxley continued down that path, and she attacked Perez during a contract signing since she thought that’s what Lyra wanted her to do.

That led to a singles match between Roxanne and Tatum, which Perez won. After the match, Perez attacked Paxley, but Valkyria made the save, which suggested she may have had a soft spot for her biggest fan.

Valkyria became NXT women’s champion for the first time back in October when she surprisingly defeated legendary WWE Superstar and future Hall of Famer Becky Lynch at Halloween Havoc.

While that marked Valkyria’s first taste of NXT gold, Perez reached the top of the mountain in late 2022 when she shocked Mandy Rose and ended her 413-day reign as NXT women’s champion.

Perez’s run as champion was fairly short-lived, as she lost the title in a multi-woman ladder match won by Indi Hartwell at Stand & Deliver 2023.

Ever since Perez’s 108-day title reign ended, Perez has been striving to win the championship back, and while she had a golden opportunity to do so at Vengeance Day, Valkyria prevailed and maintained her spot as the leader of the NXT women’s division.

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