Australia's Buddy Matthews Makes AEW Debut
The Melbourne-born wrestler has made his long awaited AEW debut.
Australia's own Buddy Matthews has made his long-awaited debut in All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
The former WWE superstar (formally known as Buddy Murphy) debuted on the latest episode of AEW Dynamite where it looked like he would confront his former WWE rival Malaki Black (formally Aleister Black).
Matthews however sided with Black and his current partner Brody King to take out the duo of PAC and Penta Oscuro.
Matthews, real name Matthew Adams, was released from the WWE in June 2021 after an almost nine-year stint with the company.
During his time there, Matthews held both the NXT Tag Team Championship (with Wesley Blake) and Raw Tag Team Championship (with Seth Rollins), while also winning the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Matthews won his only singles title at Super Show-Down 2018 in his hometown of Melbourne, defeating Cedric Alexander to become the first Australian man to win a singles title in the promotion.
Matthews would hold the title for 183-days before losing to Tony Nese at Wrestlemania 35, ending his 10-month undefeated run in singles competition.
Following his release from WWE, Matthews made appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling with many insiders believing it was only a matter of time before he would debut in Tony Khan's promotion.
Matthews, 33, began his pro wrestling career in Melbourne as a part of the Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW) roster, before signing his developmental deal with the WWE.
The signing of Matthews is just another ex-big name WWE star to join AEW since its inception in 2019.
While former wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho were with the company from day one, big names such as Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose), CM Punk, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), Adam Cole, Christian, Keith Lee, and Matt Hardy have all joined the company after lengthy WWE runs.
While Rhodes was a founding father of AEW, he, along with wife Brandi, recently left the company and are expected to re-debut with WWE before or after the upcoming Wrestlemania 38 event in Dallas, Texas on April 2nd and 3rd.
Featured Image Credit: WWETopics: AEW, Buddy Matthews, Wrestling, WWE, Australia
Ryan Rosendale