| Aoife Valkyrie | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Aoife Cusack |
| Born | 23 October 1996 Dublin, Ireland |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Aoife Valkyrie Valkyrie Cain Lady Valkyrie Valkyrie |
| Billed weight | 130 lb (59 kg) |
| Billed from | Dublin, Ireland |
| Debut | 2015 |
Aoife Cusack (born 23 October 1996) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT UK brand under the ring name Aoife Valkyrie.[1] She has additionally wrestled under the ring names Valkyrie Cain, Lady Valkyrie, and Valkyrie.
After being student of Fight Factory Pro Wrestling for one year, Valkyrie made her debut in 2015 (adopting the ring name "Valkyrie Cain", after the protagonist of the Skulduggery Pleasant book series by Derek Landy)[2] competing for Celtic Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Ulster, Over the Top Wrestling and Uprising, in addition to comprising The Woke Queens with Debbie Keitel, later adopting the new ring name "Lady Valkyrie" in 2017. In 2018, Valkyrie became the first woman to win the male Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Valkyrie was reported signing with WWE on 20 January 2020, now operating under the ringname "Aoife Valkyrie".[3] However, Valkyrie competed in her first match on NXT UK on 17 January 2020, defeating Amale. She then defeated Isla Dawn the next night on 18 January 2020, and defeated Amale again on the same night. On 26 March 2020, Valkyrie defeated Nina Samuels.[4]
In February 2020, Valkyrie toured with WWE's US-based NXT brand for the first time, wrestling on two house shows in Florida. Valkyrie defeated Aliyah on 14 February in Tampa, followed by defeating Jessi Kamea, MJ Jenkins, and Taynara on 15 February in a six-woman tag team match at a Fort Pierce house show, where she teamed up with Mia Yim and Rita Reis.[4]
Valkyrie made her return to television on the 17 September 2020 episode of NXT UK in a winning effort against Isla Dawn, and on 29 October 2020 she competed against Dani Luna, again in a winning effort. Valkyrie remained undefeated until 29 April 2021 when she lost to Meiko Satomura.[5][6] She would lose again to Jinny on the July 29 episode of NXT UK due to interference from Joseph Conners, however, she would defeat Jinny four weeks later on the August 26 episode of NXT UK in a no disqualification match in which Conners was in a shark cage.