The first-ever women's intercontinental champion in WWE history has been crowned following the finale of the Monday Night Raw tournament that has been going on for the past few weeks.
As a refresher, WWE announced the WWE Women's United States Championship on November 8, 2024, with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis ushering in a tournament that would go on from November 15th until Saturday Night's Main Event on December 14th.
In that tournament, Bayley defeated Candice LeRae and B-Fab, eventually losing to Chelsea Green, who would go on to win the title from Michin in the finals, after Michin had defeated Tiffany Stratton (who had beaten Naomi and Elektra Lopez) and her own first-round opponents, Lash Legend (filling in for an injured Jade Cargill) and Piper Niven.
As this title was meant to be the women's midcard division for the blue brand, it was only natural there would be a Raw equivalent, which was made official when Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced the Women's Intercontinental Championship on November 25th.
This title would undergo a similar tournament of Triple Threat first-round matches, with Dakota Kai beating Katana Chance and Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark beating Raquel Rodriguez and Kayden Carter, Lyra Valkyria overcoming Zelina Vega and Ivy Nile, and Iyo Sky filling in for Kairi Sane (who was pulled from the tournament due to an injury) to beat Alba Fyre and Natalya.
In the semi-finals, Dakota Kai defeated Zoey Stark and Lyra Valkyria defeated Iyo Sky, setting up a finale for tonight's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw (January 13, 2025) of Kai against Valkyria.
Following a well-contested match where both Kai and Valkyria were on top at various points, it ultimately came down to Valkyria hitting her finisher Nightwing (a Samoan Driver) for the victory, capturing her second singles title in her WWE career, having already had a run with the NXT Women's Championship.
After the match, Kai showed her some respect and Valkyria was bestowed the championship.
Check out some highlights from the match and segment here:
How do you feel about Lyra Valkyria winning the Women's Intercontinental Championship? Should it have been Dakota Kai or someone else? Drop your reactions in the comments section below!