‘Scheduling conflicts’ pull AEW’s Buddy Matthews from indie comeback

Aussie Buddy Matthews injured his ankle at AEW Grand Slam Australia in February of 2025, and hasn’t wrestled since. He did make a surprise appearance in his home country this May at an independent show, which set up his planned October return to that promotion (World Series Wrestling or WSW). In Jul

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What is the story about?

Aussie Buddy Matthews injured his ankle at AEW Grand Slam Australia in February of 2025, and hasn’t wrestled since. He did make a surprise appearance in his home country this May at an independent show, which set up his planned October return to that promotion (World Series Wrestling or WSW).

In July, Matthews seemed to indicate he’d finally been cleared by doctors. But the 38-year-old from Melbourne hasn’t wrestled — and now that planned October return to WSW is off. It posted the following on Instagram

yesterday (Oct. 25):

We have just learnt, that due to scheduling conflicts, Buddy Matthews will no longer be appearing on the WSW MEGAMANIA Tour.

We’re really disappointed that Buddy won’t be joining us this time around, but we completely understand that schedules can change.

We hope to welcome Buddy Matthews back to World Series Wrestling on a future tour! 🇦🇺🔥

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

It’s not clear what the conflict is. WSW’s MegaMania tour begins this Thursday (Oct. 29) and runs through Monday, Nov. 2. AEW’s is in St. Louis, Missouri for a live Dynamite on Wednesday; it will tape next Saturday’s Collision afterwards. Matthews’ wife, WWE’s Rhea Ripley, is also currently sidelined with an injury.

We’ll likely learn eventually if there’s anything deeper going on here. In the meantime, we’ll just hope this announcement doesn’t mean Matthews or anyone close to him are facing new challenges.