Buddy Matthews made his first appearance inside a wrestling ring in nearly 15 months during opening night of World Series Wrestling: Rise Against at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Matthews has been sidelined since suffering an apparent ankle injury during his entrance at AEW Grand Slam: Australia in 2025, where he challenged Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Continental Championship.
The injury occurred in a bizarre fashion during Matthews’ entrance, with footage appearing to show him hurting his ankle while entering the ring before the match even began. Despite the issue, Matthews still competed against Okada that night, though he had not wrestled since.
His return appearance came after Donovan Dijak retained the WSW Championship in a four-way match against Moose, Matt Hayter, and Matt Riddle.
Following the bout, Matthews entered wearing a black hoodie and carrying a steel chair before attacking Dijak.
Matthews then addressed the crowd with a passionate promo signaling that his full in-ring return is approaching. “In case you’ve forgotten my name is Buddy Matthews!” he declared. “And I’m the guy that kicked down the door for every Australian to make it overseas.”
Matthews also revealed that while he is still not medically cleared to compete, he expects that to change later this year. “Now let’s get one thing straight, I might not be cleared now but in October I will be.”
He closed by teasing championship ambitions once he officially returns. “And I might just take all the gold because hell’s frozen over and you just can’t stop the unstoppable.”
Buddy Matthews revealed that he’s not cleared yet to wrestle… but will be in October later this year.
pic.twitter.com/h1CGKnYaqP https://t.co/qA35Hknj8U— Drainmaker (@TheDrainmaker) May 15, 2026
