Buddy Matthews makes surprise return outside of AEW
AEW’s Buddy Matthews made his return to a wrestling ring after nearly 15 months away and confirmed his official comeback timeline.
Matthews returned to the ring on the first day of the World Series Wrestling’s Rise Against tour at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia. He attacked Donovan Dijak after his victory in a four-way match against Moose, Matt Hayter and Matt Riddle for the WSW Championship. He entered the ring in a black hoodie and steel chair in hand, striking multiple blows to Dijak. He then proceeded to address fans and announce he will be medically cleared to compete in October.
“In case you’ve forgotten my name is Buddy Matthews! And I’m the guy that kicked down the door for every Australian to make it overseas. Now let’s get one thing straight, I might not be cleared now but in October I will be. And I might just take all the gold because hell’s frozen over and you just can’t stop the unstoppable,” stated Matthews.
Matthews suffered an ankle injury during his entrance at AEW Grand Slam Australia in February 2025. Despite subsequent ligament and nerve damage to his foot, Matthews competed in his match against Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Continental Championship.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.