Buddy Matthews

Matthew Adams (born 26 September 1988) is an Australian professional wrestler. He currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and competes under the ring name Buddy Matthews.

Buddy Matthews
Matthews at a WWE house show in 2018
Born	(1988-09-26) 26 September 1988 (age 36) Melbourne, Australia
Spouse(s)	Rhea Ripley ​ (m. 2024)​
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Buddy Matthews Buddy Murphy Matt Silva Murphy
Billed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Billed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Billed from	Melbourne, Australia
Trained by	Carlo Cannon WWE Performance Center
Debut	2011

He is also known for his time wrestling in WWE where he wrestled under the ring names Buddy Murphy and Murphy. In WWE, he was a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion, one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, and one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champion.

During his time in AEW, Matthews has been a one-time AEW World Trios Champion.

Career

Independent circuit

After leaving WWE, Murphy switched his name to Buddy Matthews. His first appearance was for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He appeared at Battle in the Valley and lost to Kazuchika Okada.^[1]

He then appeared on Major League Wrestling (MLW)'s Blood & Thunder event where he lost to TJP on 21 January 2022.^[2]

All Elite Wrestling

On 23 February 2022 episode of Dynamite, Matthews made his debut with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). After Malakai Black and Brody King's match, they attacked and beat down Pac and Penta Oscuro. Before Black was about to impale Penta with a shovel, the lights went out and came back on with Matthews in the ring. Matthews joined Black's stable the House of Black and they attacked Pac and Penta. After the show, AEW owner Tony Khan announced that Matthews had signed a contract with AEW.^[3]

During the Revolution buy-in on March 6, the House of Black defeated the team of Pac, Penta Oscuro, and Erick Redbeard.^[4]

On March 5, 2023 at Revolution, Matthews and the House of Black defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) to become the new AEW World Trios Champions. This was Matthews's first championship in AEW.^[5] At All In, Matthews and the House of Black lost the titles to Billy Gunn and The Acclaimed (Max Caster and Anthony Bowens).^[6]

Personal life

He is married to WWE wrestler Rhea Ripley.^[7]

Championships and accomplishments

Murphy (left) and Blake as NXT Tag Team Champions.

• All Elite Wrestling
  • AEW World Trios Championship (1 time) – with Brody King and Malakai Black ^[5]
• Ballarat Pro Wrestling
  • BPW Australian Championship (1 time)^[8][9][10]
• CBS Sports
  • Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year (2018)^[11]
• Melbourne City Wrestling
  • MCW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[12][13]
• Professional Championship Wrestling
  • PCW State Championship (1 time)^[14][15]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 33 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019^[16]
• WWE
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[17]
  • WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Seth Rollins^[18]
  • NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with (Wesley) Blake^[a][19]

Footnotes

1. Their ring names were shortened to simply "Blake" and "Murphy" during their reign.