Lyra Valkyria Retains NXT Women's Championship Despite Pre-Match Attack From Xia Li

On Tuesday's episode of "WWE NXT," Lyra Valkyria successfully defended her "NXT" Women's Championship against Xia Li, winning the main event match with a Michinoku Driver. The victory came after Li had attacked Valkyria earlier in the show when the match was originally supposed to be contested, kicking the champion in the head during her entrance. The title defense was almost in jeopardy after the sneak attack, but Valkyria ended up being cleared to compete, and the match became the episode's main event, with Valkyria emerging victorious.

The win over Li was Valkyria's first title defense since she became "NXT" champion on Night One of the Halloween Havoc special episode, defeating then-champion Becky Lynch. Li, Lynch, and Valkyria have all been involved with each other for weeks, with the rivalry between Li and Lynch specifically playing on the main roster — 24 hours before losing to Valkyria, Li lost a match to Lynch on "WWE Raw."