New behind-the-scenes information has emerged regarding WWE’s original plans for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship tournament earlier this year.

The tournament, which concluded on the January 13 episode of WWE Raw, saw Lyra Valkyria defeat Dakota Kai in the final to become the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion. Valkyria’s road to the title included a semi-final win over IYO SKY, while Kai had defeated Zoey Stark to earn her place in the final.

However, a recent image from the upcoming docuseries WWE Unreal reveals that the tournament bracket may have looked very different at one point. The internal planning document, shared by Triple H, appears to list Alba Fyre as Lyra Valkyria’s original opponent for the semi-final, not IYO SKY.

IYO had initially entered the tournament as a replacement for Kairi Sane, who had to pull out due to injury. She picked up wins over Alba Fyre and Natalya on her way to the semi-final. Despite that, the internal bracket shows Fyre, not IYO, advancing past Natalya, suggesting that WWE’s original creative direction would have seen Alba Fyre face Lyra Valkyria instead.

This indicates a scrapped plan where Alba would have defeated both IYO SKY and Natalya in earlier rounds before ultimately falling to Valkyria in the semi-final.

Alba Fyre is currently part of the SmackDown roster, where she teams with Chelsea Green and Piper Niven as part of the Secret Hervice.

In a new photo from WWE's upcoming Unreal docuseries, Alba Fyre is listed as Lyra Valkyria's opponent in the semi-final of the Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament on the December 30 episode of Raw, implying the original plan was for her to defeat Natalya and IYO SKY… pic.twitter.com/sBISS7DUtm

, WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) July 9, 2025