Who Is Rhea Ripley's Husband? All About Buddy Matthews

After getting called up to the WWE main roster in 2021, Rhea Ripley has skyrocketed to become one of the company's top stars. From her unique look to dominating fighting style, Ripley has become a very popular figure on the roster.

While Rhea is at the top of WWE, her husband Buddy Matthews has been working his way up the ladder in All Elite Wrestling. The former AEW World Trios Champion previously worked for WWE where he met Ripley. From his wrestling career to how they met, here is everything you need to know about Rhea Ripley's husband, Buddy Matthews.

He was born in Australia

Buddy Matthews, real name Matthew Adams, was born on September 26, 1988 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. At the age of 19, he started training to become a professional wrestler with Carlo Cannon in Australia.

Matthews started in WWE before Rhea Ripley

After six years on the Australian independent scene, Matthews signed with WWE for the NXT brand where he was given the name "Buddy Murphy." Spending nearly four years on NXT, Buddy won the NXT Tag Team Championships with Wesley Blake before he was eventually called up to the WWE main roster in 2018.

MORE: WWE Stars Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley Engage In Brutal X/Twitter Battle

Losing about 25 pounds and asking to compete on the 205 Live brand, Buddy became a revelation in the cruiserweight division. Standing out for his impressive arsenal and incredible matches, Matthews won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from Cedric Alexander in his hometown of Melbourne at WWE Super Show-Down 2018.

After a 183-day reign, Buddy lost the Cruiserweight Title to Tony Nese at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. He later transitioned to the SmackDown brand. Following a stop-start run on the blue brand, Matthews moved to the Raw brand where his series of matches with Aleister Black helped him to impress fans.

This feud led to Buddy joining forces with Seth Rollins in the most prominent role he had since signing with WWE. The duo won the Raw Tag Team Championships in 2020 before eventually feuding later that year. Matthews was released from the company in June 2021.

How Buddy Met Rhea Ripley

Despite both of them being born in Australia, they never met each other during their time on the Australian independent scene. They met while wrestling in WWE instead.

The duo had time overlapping each other on the NXT brand as well as the WWE main roster where they first connected. In April 2022, the two posted photos on Instagram of themselves working out together. Ripley later confirmed the relationship when a Twitter/X user asked her about it.

Buddy Matthews was engaged to Alexa Bliss before dating Rhea Ripley

Prior to Rhea Ripley's arrival in WWE, Buddy Matthews was involved in a romantic relationship with Alexa Bliss. Both Matthews and Bliss signed with WWE in 2013. The following year, the duo were paired up in a group with Wesley Blake.

Bliss served as Blake & Murphy's manager when the two men won the NXT Tag Team Championships. This role allowed Alexa to showcase her personality for the first time in her WWE run. During this partnership, Matthews and Bliss started a real life relationship and even got engaged.

Buddy Murphy & Alexa Bliss WWE — WWE.com

After a four year romance, Matthews and Bliss amicably split. Since then, Bliss went on to start a relationship and eventually marry musician Ryan Cabrera. Meanwhile, Matthews' relationship with Rhea Ripley was his first public one since splitting up with Alexa Bliss

Buddy & Rhea got engaged in 2023

In August 2023, Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews made headlines by posting a picture on Instagram of Rhea kissing Buddy's cheek on a beach while wearing an engagement ring. Rhea wrote the following caption:

“1000x YES! Pure F------ happiness! ❤️,”

Congratulations to Rhea Ripley & Buddy Matthews who have announced their engagement. pic.twitter.com/SHJhc7sUtI
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) August 9, 2023

Buddy's support of Rhea's successful WWE career

While the couple have had their individual accolades throughout their careers, Rhea Ripley has become a megastar for WWE. Ripley is a former WWE Women's World Champion, WWE Women's Champion, WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, NXT Women's Champion and the 2023 Royal Rumble winner.

Appearing on the Impaulsive podcast hosted by fellow WWE superstar Logan Paul, Ripley was asked if all of her success ever bothers Matthews.

“He loves it. He’s happy for me and he also knows how far I can go in this company, Obviously, it’s a male-dominated sport, so there’s only so many females in it. So if you really show that you’re different and you connect with the crowd in a certain way, you’re obviously going to skyrocket to the top.”
Rhea Ripley

Ripley went on to mention that Matthews isn't threatened by her meteoric rise and success in WWE. Their trust allows them to win as one unit.

“I feel like he doesn’t get threatened by that, and he says he doesn’t either, so I take his word. I trust him. I believe him. If I’m winning, he’s winning,” Rhea said.

Matthews' time in AEW

After leaving WWE in June 2021, Buddy Matthews signed with All Elite Wrestling and debuted on the February 23, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite. Joining Malakai Black and Brody King in the House of Black, Matthews has been featured in several memorable trios bouts against the likes of The Elite and Death Triangle.

Matthews is a former AEW World Trios Champion with Black and King after defeating Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks to win the gold at AEW Revolution 2023. Buddy remains part of the AEW roster at the time of this writing.

Rhea & Buddy got married in June 2024

After more than two years together, Matthews and Ripley finally tied the knot on June 23, 2024. Revealing their union on Instagram, the photo appears to be taken on the wedding day with the couple kissing.

With Ripley wearing a black off-the-shoulders gown and Matthews in a black suit, the caption simply reads: "Til death. 🖤,"

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