For the American professional wrestler who previously wrestled under the ring name of "Murphy", see
Mikael Judas. For other people named Matthew Adams, see
Matthew Adams (disambiguation).
Buddy Matthews
Matthews in 2018
Birth name
Matthew Adams
Born
(1988-09-26) 26 September 1988 (age 35)[1] Melbourne, Australia
Adams was trained by Carlo Cannon.[6] He made his debut on 8 September 2007 as "Matt Silva", at Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW), where he teamed with Jacko Lantern to defeat
Adam Brooks and Diaz.[9] He won the PCW State Championship by defeating Danny Psycho on 3 December 2010.[10][11] He was also a mainstay in
Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), where he won the
MCW World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Slex on 28 January 2012.[12] He held the championship for 293 days.[13]
In August 2014, Murphy formed
a tag team with Wesley Blake. On 14 August episode of NXT, they were defeated in the first round of a number one contender tag team tournament by The
Lucha Dragons (
Kalisto and
Sin Cara).[15] For the rest of 2014, they lost multiple matches to The Lucha Dragons and The
Vaudevillains (
Aiden English and
Simon Gotch).[16][17][18][19] Also in October 2014, they lost a number one contender tag team battle royal, being eliminated by The Ascension.[20]
On 21 January 2015 episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy defeated The Vaudevillains and quickly challenged The Lucha Dragons to a title match. On 28 January episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy defeated the champions to win the
NXT Tag Team Championship, making Murphy the first Australian to hold a championship in WWE.[21] At
NXT TakeOver: Rival, Blake and Murphy, now billed simply by their surnames, defeated the Lucha Dragons in a rematch for the title.[22] Following that in March, Blake and Murphy began a feud with
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, who were intent on capturing the tag titles.[23] Blake and Murphy attempted to woo
Carmella on several occasions.[24] On 13 May episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy distracted Carmella during her match with
Alexa Bliss, causing her to lose.[25] At
NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, during Amore and Cassady's NXT Tag Team Championship match against Blake and Murphy, Alexa Bliss came out mid-match and attacked Carmella and Amore, ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy.[26] After making several successful title defences, Blake and Murphy lost the championships to the Vaudevillians at
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, ending their reign at 219 days.[27][28]
On 18 May 2016 episode of NXT, after losing to
Austin Aries and
Shinsuke Nakamura, Bliss and then Blake walked away from Murphy, teasing a split for the team.[29] On 1 June episode of NXT, his ring name was reverted to Buddy Murphy, where he was defeated by
Tye Dillinger.[30] On 15 June episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy reunited, but after a miscommunication between the two, they were defeated by
TM-61 (
Nick Miller and
Shane Thorne).[31] The following week, Murphy announced himself as a singles competitor by interrupting Shinsuke Nakamura, leading to a match with Nakamura, which Murphy lost.[32] On 4 January 2017 episode of NXT, Murphy teamed with Tye Dillinger to defeat
Bobby Roode and Elias Samson, and this turned out to be Murphy's last televised appearance in NXT, before being called up to main roster.[33]
Cruiserweight Champion (2018–2019)
In early 2018, Murphy lost about 25 pounds and asked to compete on the
205 Live brand.[34] On 20 February episode of 205 Live, he made his debut as a participant in the
Cruiserweight Championship tournament, defeating
Ariya Daivari in the first round but lost to
Mustafa Ali in the quarterfinals.[35] On 27 March episode of 205 Live, Murphy defeated
TJP,
Akira Tozawa,
Kalisto in a fatal four-way match for a future shot at the
Cruiserweight Championship. On 10 April episode of 205 Live, Murphy attacked new WWE Cruiserweight Champion
Cedric Alexander from behind, starting a feud between the two.[36] However, Murphy failed his mandatory weigh-in and was removed from the match and the 205 Live roster until he met the weight requirement. On 8 May episode of 205 Live, Murphy defeated Ali in a rematch from their Cruiserweight Championship tournament quarterfinal match.[37]
He started a storyline where he had to lose weight, challenging Alexander for the title on 29 May episode of 205 Live, where he failed to win the title.[38] The following week, he had a match with Mustafa Ali that ended in a no-contest after both men were attacked by
Hideo Itami,[39] who won a triple threat match against both men the following week.[40] On 3 July episode of 205 Live, he lost to Ali in a
No Disqualification match.[41] He then went on to form a tag team with
Tony Nese and they subsequently feuded with Lucha House Party (
Gran Metalik,
Lince Dorado and
Kalisto).[42] On 6 October at
Super Show-Down in his hometown of Melbourne, Murphy defeated Alexander to win the Cruiserweight Championship, his first singles title in WWE, the first Australian man to accomplish this feat.[43]
Murphy subsequently retained the title against Mustafa Ali at
Survivor Series and Alexander at
TLC, respectively.[44][45] On 27 January 2019, Murphy successfully defended his title in a fatal four-way match against Akira Tozawa, Kalisto and
Hideo Itami at the
Royal Rumble Kickoff Show after pinning Itami.[46] On 17 February, Murphy retained his title against Tozawa at
Elimination Chamber.[47] At the
WrestleMania 35 Kickoff Show, he lost his title to former partner Tony Nese, ending his reign at 183 days. Prior to this loss, Murphy had been undefeated in televised singles matches dating back to July 2018.[48] On 9 April episode of 205 Live, Murphy was again defeated by Nese in a rematch for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.[49]
Brand switches (2019–2020)
On 16 April, Murphy was drafted to the
SmackDownbrand as part of the
Superstar Shake-up.[50] He participated in the
51-Man Battle Royal at
Super ShowDown, but was unsuccessful.[51][52] On 30 July episode of SmackDown, a stack of scaffolding fell onto
Roman Reigns backstage. Murphy was shown in the background of the event.[53] The following week, Reigns confronted Murphy about his involvement in the event. After being physically intimidated by Reigns, Murphy revealed that
Rowan was Reigns' mystery attacker.[54] At
SummerSlam, Murphy defeated
Apollo Crews by
disqualification, after Rowan attacked him mid-match.[55] On 19 August, Murphy was announced as one of sixteen competitors in the
King of the Ring tournament.[56] Murphy faced
Mustafa Ali in the first round on 27 August episode of SmackDown Live, where he was eliminated.[57]
Storyline with Seth Rollins and departure (2020–2021)
On 13 January episode of Raw, after losing to Aleister Black three times in a row, Murphy sat at ring side in distress throughout the remainder of the show. During the main event, Murphy aligned with "Monday Night Messiah"
Seth Rollins and
AOP, allowing them to defeat
Big Show,
Samoa Joe and
Kevin Owens and joining in their stable as a disciple.[68] The following week on Raw, Murphy and Rollins defeated
The Viking Raiders (
Erik and
Ivar) to win the
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.[69] On 7 February, his ring name was shortened back to simply Murphy after he requested when WWE producer Michael Hayes told him the name Buddy sounds too friendly.[70][3][71] Murphy and Rollins successfully defended their titles against The
Street Profits at
Super ShowDown on 27 February,[72] but eventually lost the titles to them in a rematch on 2 March episode of Raw. Their reign ended at 42 days.[73] Murphy and Rollins failed to reclaim the championship from the team at
Elimination Chamber six days later.[74] On 20 April episode of Raw, Murphy lost to
Rey Mysterio in a
Money in the Bankladder match qualifier.[75]
In 2022, Matthews returned to
Melbourne City Wrestling in the Ballroom Brawl event, winning the right to face Mitch Waterman for the MCW World Heavyweight Championship. Matthews then defeated Mitch Waterman to win his second MCW World Heavyweight Championship, at The House Always Wins event.[90]
Adams was engaged to American professional wrestler Alexis Cabrera, better known by the ring name
Alexa Bliss.[99] It was reported that the two ended their engagement in September 2018, but still remain friends.[100]
As of 2022, he has been in a relationship with fellow Australian wrestler Demi Bennett, known professionally as
Rhea Ripley.[101]
In August 2023, Adams and Bennett got engaged.[102]