Lyra Valkyria Denounces Bayley on Raw, Setting Up July 18 MSG Match

Q: With Jalen Brunson and a stacked card, is Saturday Night's Main Event WWE's new summer blockbuster event?

No. Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden looks like a major summer TV special, but not WWE’s new top summer blockbuster. The case for it being a blockbuster is strong. WWE has loaded the July 18 card with Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria after their Raw blowup, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes teaming against Gunther and Sami Zayn, and a women’s tag title defense featuring Brie Bella and Paige. Roman Reigns is also scheduled to appear with NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, a major local draw in New York after leading the Knicks to a title. The Garden setting, the celebrity crossover, and the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event to MSG for the first time since 2007 all give the show unusual scale. But the evidence still points to SummerSlam remaining WWE’s true summer centerpiece. Saturday Night’s Main Event is being used to advance bigger stories, especially the Punk-Rhodes rivalry heading toward SummerSlam. WWE’s August 1-2 SummerSlam card carries the higher-stakes championship matches and the company’s established branding as its marquee summer event. So the better read is that Saturday Night’s Main Event has become a high-end, star-driven tentpole special rather than a replacement for SummerSlam. It can be one of WWE’s biggest television events of the year without overtaking the company’s traditional summer flagship.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 14

Dallas saw Lyra Valkyria publicly tear into Bayley on Monday Night Raw, saying Bayley had held her back for a year and that their friendship had been a lie.
The outburst followed Valkyria’s recent turn after she and Bayley lost a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against Brie Bella and Paige, a setback that drove her darker character shift.
Valkyria framed Bayley as the source of her stalled rise, calling her a doormat, rejecting her locker-room-leader image and saying she was "the worst of The Four Horsewomen."
Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden on July 18 will turn that feud into a one-on-one match, capping weeks of tension between the former allies.