AEW’s Buddy Matthews has been out of action since suffering an ankle injury at Grand Slam Australia in February 2025 in a match against Kazuchika Okada. The following May, he revealed that he suffered a partial ligament tear along with cartilage damage. His recovery has been slow going, but there seemed to be some positive progress when he attacked former WWE wrestler Donovan Dijak at an indie event last month. At the show, he announced that while he isn’t cleared yet, he will be in October.

During an appearance on “What’s Your Story?”, Matthews’ wife, Rhea Ripley provided another update. She says Matthews is just now able to get in the ring to see what he can do. “He’ll get in and run the ropes. I’ve been teaching him some rolls since the boys class didn’t do as many rolls as the girls class.” She has concerns of being injured herself being on the road so often. Ripley says he goes harder than her right now “because he’s trying to get back in that mode.” Their friend, Tommy (Aleister Black) trains with them too.

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