Absent AEW Star Buddy Matthews Provides An Injury Update Of Sorts

Injured AEW star Buddy Matthews offered a small update on his Instagram account over the weekend, and subtly let fans know he's doing well, but he's still not 100%. Matthews shared a carousel of photos from "AEW Collision Grand Slam: Australia" to his account on Sunday alongside the caption "Fire still burns... 73%." Matthews was unfortunately injured at the event in his home country back in February and hasn't been seen on AEW programming since.

Matthews was defeated by Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada at Grand Slam and the injury appeared to happen early on. Matthews posted (then deleted) on social media that he injured his ankle during his entrance when he jumped from the top rope to the ring. He claimed the ring padding had been uneven. Despite the post being deleted, PWInsider confirmed Matthews had indeed injured his ankle.

His wife, former WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley, also confirmed his injury shortly after the show when she posted a photo of herself and her husband to Instagram, with Matthews seen carrying a crutch. At the time of the injury, Matthews was already scheduled to be away from the ring as he and Ripley were set to go on a belated honeymoon following their wedding last summer.

Brody King and Matthews had just recently rebranded their tag team "Hounds of Hell" before Grand Slam following the departure of House of Black's Malakai Black. Since Matthews has been off television, King has been wrestling in singles action, most recently in the 2025 Owen Hart Memorial tournament.