Independent circuit (2015–2020) Cusack began training for a professional wrestling career in
Bray in 2014, before travelling to England to attend more wrestling schools. Valkyrie made her debut for
Over the Top Wrestling (OTT) at WrestleRama on 6 August 2017, teaming with Justin Shape and Katey Harvey in a loss to
Martina,
Candice LeRae and
Joey Ryan. On 10 August 2018, she defeated
Jordan Devlin to win FFPW's Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship. On 26 May, she defeated Raven Creed to win the OTT Women's Championship. Valkyrie also wrestled for the
women's professional wrestling promotion Pro-Wrestling: EVE, where she was part of a
heel tag team with Debbie Keitel, known as the Woke Queens. They defeated
Laura Di Matteo and
Mercedes Martinez in a tournament final to win the vacant
Pro-Wrestling: EVE Tag Team Championship on 12 October. Valkyrie lost the OTT Women's Championship to Harvey on 26 October, and the Irish Junior Heavyweight Championship to
LJ Cleary on 3 November. Valkyrie made her last independent circuit appearance for wXw on 8 March 2020, teaming with Baby Allison in a loss to Kelly and Stephanie Maze.
WWE NXT UK and NXT (2020–2024) Prior to signing with the company, Cusack participated in a
WWE tryout in
London in June 2019. Cusack was reported to have signed with WWE on 20 January 2020, and was assigned to the
NXT UK brand. She competed in her first match on 13 February episode of
NXT UK under the ring name
Aoife Valkyrie, defeating
Amale. In February, Valkyrie toured with
NXT for the first time, wrestling on two
house shows in
Florida. Valkyrie defeated
Aliyah on 14 February in
Tampa, followed by teaming with
Mia Yim and Rita Reis (later known as Valentina Feroz) to defeat Jessi Kamea,
MJ Jenkins and
Taynara in a
six-woman tag team match on 15 February in
Fort Pierce. She made her return to television on 17 September episode of
NXT UK in a winning effort against
Isla Dawn. She remained undefeated until losing to
Meiko Satomura on 29 April 2021 episode. Later that year, Valkyrie suffered a
torn ACL and was sidelined for a year. defeating Amari Miller in her debut match on 13 December episode of
NXT. At the
NXT Stand & Deliver pay-per-view on 1 April 2023, Valkyria competed in a
ladder match for the
NXT Women's Championship, which was won by
Indi Hartwell. She took part in an eight-woman
single-elimination tournament for the vacated title, losing to
Tiffany Stratton in the finals on 28 May at
NXT Battleground. After defeating Hartwell and
Roxanne Perez in a triple threat match proposed by champion
Becky Lynch, Valkyria bested Lynch at Night 1 of
NXT: Halloween Havoc on 24 October to win the NXT Women's Championship. She made her first successful title defense against
Xia Li on 21 November episode. At
NXT: New Year's Evil on 2 January 2024, she retained the title against
Blair Davenport. After the match,
Tatum Paxley, who had been obsessed with Valkyria since December, stopped
Lola Vice from cashing in her
Breakout Tournament contract. At
NXT Vengeance Day on 4 February, Valkyria retained the title against Perez and Vice, who cashed in while the match was in progress to make it a triple threat. On 5 March at
NXT: Roadblock, Valkyria and Paxley failed to win the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship from
The Kabuki Warriors (
Asuka and
Kairi Sane) after Valkyria inadvertently kicked Paxley. After the match, Perez attacked Valkyria and injured her arm. At
NXT Stand & Deliver on 6 April, Valkyria lost the NXT Women's Championship to Perez by submission, ending her reign at 165 days. Paxley turned on Valkyria the following week and subsequently revealed that her obsession with Valkyria was only because she had the NXT Women's Championship. Valkyria wrestled her final NXT match at Week 1 of
Spring Breakin' on 23 April, where she failed to regain the title from Perez in a triple threat match also involving Paxley.
Raw (2024–present) On Night 2 of the
2024 WWE Draft, Valkyria was promoted to the
Raw brand. On 6 May episode of
Raw, Valkyria made her on-screen debut, saving then-
Women's World Champion Becky Lynch from a beatdown by
Damage CTRL's
Dakota Kai,
Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane, before defeating Kai in the first round of the
Queen of the Ring tournament in her main roster in-ring debut. She then defeated
Zoey Stark and Sky en route to the finals, where she lost to
Nia Jax at
King and Queen of the Ring on 25 May, marking her first loss on the main roster. Valkyria competed in the women's
Money in the Bank ladder match at
Money in the Bank on 6 July, which was won by Tiffany Stratton. In December, Valkyria entered the
tournament for the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Championship, defeating Kai in the finals on 13 January 2025 episode of
Raw to become the inaugural champion. At
Royal Rumble on 1 February, she entered her first women's
Royal Rumble match at number 4, but was eliminated by
Ivy Nile. Over the following months, Valkyria successfully defended her title against Kai in a rematch, Nile,
Raquel Rodriguez, and
Bayley. On 11 April episode of
SmackDown, Valkyria and Bayley won a
gauntlet match to face
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at Night 2 of
WrestleMania 41 on 20 April. Prior to Night 1, Bayley was taken out backstage and was unable to compete. The following night, Becky Lynch returned from an eleven-month hiatus as Valkyria's new tag team partner, defeating Morgan and Rodriguez to win the titles, making Valkyria a double champion. They lost the titles in a rematch the next night on
Raw, ending their reign at only one day, marking the shortest reign in the title's history. Immediately after, Lynch turned on Valkyria. On 10 May at
Backlash, Valkyria defeated Lynch to retain the Women's Intercontinental Championship but was subjected to a post-match assault by Lynch. She lost the title to Lynch in a
Last Chance match on 7 June at
Money in the Bank, ending her reign at 145 days. After the match, per stipulation, Valkyria acknowledged Lynch as the better woman and raised her hand, but attacked her afterwards. At
Evolution on 13 July, she failed to regain the title from Lynch in a triple threat match also involving Bayley. The next night on
Raw, Valkyria defeated Bayley in a
two-out-of-three falls match to earn a rematch against Lynch for the title at
SummerSlam. At Night 2 of the event on 3 August, Valkyria failed to win the title in a no disqualification Last Chance match, therefore being unable to challenge for the title as long as Lynch is champion and ending their feud. Following the event, Valkyria teamed up with Bayley again, who was undergoing a personality change persona. == Other media ==