{"id":170155,"date":"2025-04-30T13:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?p=170155"},"modified":"2025-04-30T11:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T16:53:36","slug":"buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#8217;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"prowr-2600576048\" class=\"prowr-apple-podcast-button-link prowr-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast\/id1365989370\" aria-label=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?fit=320%2C78&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?w=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?resize=300%2C73&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" width=\"320\" height=\"78\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><b>By Jason Powell<\/b>, ProWrestling.net Editor (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prowrestlingnet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@prowrestlingnet<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><b>Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Buddy Matthews<br \/>\nHost: Chris Van Vliet<br \/>\nPodcast available via <a href=\"https:\/\/podcast.chrisvanvliet.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Podcasts.Apple.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pPf0u0dpcEk?si=0gzCnniXzNMvoIg0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>On his ankle:<\/b> &#8220;It\u2019s okay. Rolled it pretty bad. Had an X-ray, MRI. There was no break, but there was partial ligament tear and cartilage damage. [I\u2019m] Walking. I haven\u2019t ran, I haven\u2019t jumped, I\u2019ve just started implementing cardio, but then it kind of stiffens up. We\u2019re working through it, but the docs were telling me, &#8216;I\u2019ve never seen an ankle roll that much under someone without completely destroying, smashing, disintegrating the bones.&#8217; So I didn\u2019t break a bone, which was incredible, but then I had to wrestle 15 minutes after it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>On knowing something was wrong:<\/b> &#8220;So as soon as I rolled, jumped off, and it went, you actually see me go, f&#8212;. Then I go sit in my corner, I\u2019m watching Okada, and then I could just feel my boot tightening up and I\u2019m like, oh. Obviously, I don\u2019t know how bad it is. So I\u2019m wrestling, and that was the first time. I\u2019ve shattered my jaw in a wrestling match, I\u2019ve had injuries before, but that was the first time in the ring that it got to me in the head. I remember doing the thing at the start, and then it started to really sink in, the pain. Then I remember Okada comes up to me and grabs me to whip me to the corner, rather than just going and listening and being in the moment I\u2019m like, can I get there? So then when I got there, I\u2019m like, I made it, what\u2019s next? Then he just runs and just hits with this elbow. Now I\u2019m two steps behind, because I\u2019m just worried about whether I can even do it. Somehow I did, and we got through it, and pretty happy with how it came out, considering how hindered I was.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>On being on crutches:<\/b> &#8220;Yeah, I had started off with two, then it moved to one, and then I braced it up and taped it up so it was so thick that I was just limping around. But yeah, we got through it. It was a great time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>On when he hopes to return to the ring:<\/b> &#8220;I\u2019m hoping sooner rather than later. I\u2019m obviously gonna have to get in the ring and suss it out and get back in ring shape. But I\u2019m hoping in the next couple of weeks, fingers crossed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>On what\u2019s next now that Malakai Black is back in WWE:<\/b> &#8220;So Hounds of Hell have started. Obviously, we rebranded as the Hounds of Hell. It\u2019s still House of Black, it\u2019s just not under that name. We\u2019re just adding a little bit more color to it, and just doing a bit more talking ourselves. We don\u2019t want to just be House of Black under a new name. We need to change a little bit, new coat of paint. So we started that, obviously. Then I hurt my ankle, unfortunately. So then that kind of takes me out of the picture. Brody has been killing it, he\u2019s having these f&#8212;ing blinders with Takeshita. Brody\u2019s a big man that can do a lot of stuff and is killing it. But yeah, hoping we can get back to the Hounds of Hell, maybe have to do a bit of a reboot just to kind of tell us that we\u2019re all back together and stuff with Julia and stuff like that. But yeah, I\u2019m sinking my teeth to get back in. I need that creative outlet to start going again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>On a possible WWE return and storyline with Rhea Ripley:<\/b> &#8220;I think that&#8217;s the big question. So I would love to do something with her. I think that story and our chemistry, just the way we are, would be good television. That&#8217;s definitely something, an itch I&#8217;d like to scratch. But the good thing about her in WWE and me in AEW and us both being in the business is that I would never want, and I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;d ever get there. I&#8217;d never want to be jealous, or get jealous of her in her position. She&#8217;s a megastar, she&#8217;s John Cena of women right now, and if I&#8217;m lowered, let&#8217;s just say I&#8217;m doing enhancement matches or whatever. I don&#8217;t want to be like, well, you&#8217;re doing that, you get this special treatment, and I get this, then kind of resent her for the position. Like I said, I don&#8217;t think it would ever happen, but I wouldn&#8217;t even want that to be an option.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Then also, if something happens at work, I want her to be able to vent to me without me going, &#8216;Yeah, no, but this is how you play that game.&#8217; I can kind of be that in the back seat, go, Yeah, I understand what you&#8217;re talking about, you deserve whatever, or you know you should do it like this, or whatever. Or just let her rant, and I can do the same to her. I can say I did this and did this. We can talk about the positives. We talk about the negatives. What upsets us and all, and it&#8217;s just like we&#8217;re on the same team. It would never become a competition. That was definitely something I thought about at the start. Would I love to work with her? Absolutely. I don&#8217;t think there would be anyone in the wrestling industry from any company or any part of the world that wouldn&#8217;t want to be doing something with Rhea Ripley. Whatever she touches turns to gold.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"prowr-2443447322\" class=\"prowr-after-content prowr-entity-placement\"><a class=\"spreaker-player\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/pwboom\" data-resource=\"show_id=3275525\" data-theme=\"light\" data-playlist=\"show\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"340px\">Listen to \"Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast\" on Spreaker.<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":159380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2837,8,2,4],"tags":[2486,1429,2207,4381,1096,4079,1810,101],"class_list":["post-170155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew-news","category-interview_highlights","category-newsticker","category-wwe_news","tag-aew","tag-aleister-black","tag-brody-king","tag-buddy-matthews","tag-buddy-murphy","tag-malakai-black","tag-rhea-ripley","tag-wwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#039;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#039;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pro Wrestling Dot Net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jason Powell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jason Powell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jason Powell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a\"},\"headline\":\"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#8217;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1021,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/post\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"aew\",\"aleister black\",\"brody king\",\"buddy matthews\",\"buddy murphy\",\"malakai black\",\"rhea ripley\",\"wwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"AEW News\",\"Interview Highlights\",\"NEWS TICKER\",\"WWE News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/\",\"name\":\"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what's next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/post\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/post\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/post\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1\",\"width\":225,\"height\":225},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/30\\\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#8217;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pro Wrestling Dot Net\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a\",\"name\":\"Jason Powell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jason Powell\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.prowrestling.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/author\\\/jasonpowell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what's next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what's next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net","og_description":"By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor...","og_url":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/","og_site_name":"Pro Wrestling Dot Net","article_published_time":"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":225,"height":225,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jason Powell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jason Powell","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/"},"author":{"name":"Jason Powell","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a"},"headline":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#8217;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury","datePublished":"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/"},"wordCount":1021,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","keywords":["aew","aleister black","brody king","buddy matthews","buddy murphy","malakai black","rhea ripley","wwe"],"articleSection":["AEW News","Interview Highlights","NEWS TICKER","WWE News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/","url":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/","name":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what's next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury - Pro Wrestling Dot Net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-04-30T18:30:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","width":225,"height":225},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2025\/04\/30\/buddy-matthews-on-the-possibility-of-returning-to-wwe-and-taking-part-in-a-storyline-with-his-wife-rhea-ripley-whats-next-now-that-malakai-black-left-aew-recovering-from-an-ankle-injury\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Buddy Matthews on the possibility of returning to WWE and taking part in a storyline with his wife Rhea Ripley, what&#8217;s next now that Malakai Black left AEW, recovering from an ankle injury"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/","name":"Pro Wrestling Dot Net","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/ff3b4e448549ff94ff694c757fddb15a","name":"Jason Powell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55404fadaa69294c803ac04b96567c09dd489324349001f369a73654f363280d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jason Powell"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.prowrestling.net"],"url":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/author\/jasonpowell\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/10\/rhearipley2.jpg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170156,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170155\/revisions\/170156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}