SUMMARY
- Just over a week before her WrestleMania 40 match, Rhea Ripley has taken the industry by storm.
- The reason behind this is her recent appearance on Logan Paul's podcast.
Rhea Ripley is without doubt among the top draws in all of WWE. Even if we consider the male superstars, Mami is one of the best characters the company has. Amid the kind of dominance and aura Rhea carries, she remains a topic of discussion even for her off-TV activities.
Recently, The Eradicator has been in the headlines due to some special activities during house shows. But, now her recent appearance on the Impaulsive podcast has grabbed a lot of eyeballs. As the Women’s World Champion appeared on the show before her WrestleMania 40 match against Becky Lynch, she made a brutally honest confession about her boyfriend Buddy Matthews’ AEW career.
While discussing her relationship with Buddy Matthews and his AEW run on Impaulsive Rhea Ripley kinda calls AEW the secondary promotion.
“At the end of the day the platform that I’m on This might make a little people mad but is obviously HIGHER”
AEW fans won’t like this 😭 pic.twitter.com/aUi6Mx97IN
— EliteRockerz 𝕏 (@EliteClubS0B) March 26, 2024
This happened when Ripley was discussing her relationship with Buddy and the in-ring journey of her partner. During the conversation, she seemingly referred to AEW as the secondary professional wrestling promotion. Mami said, “At the end of the day the platform that I’m on, this might make a little people mad but is obviously higher.” (Via: X)
In fact, The Eradicator took a small pause in between these comments, and that’s why fans have been wondering if that was a dig at the career of Matthews. If that’s true, it’s obviously a big thing, and it remains to be seen if the female star comes forward to clear out the air around this matter in the near future or not.
Buddy Matthews responds to Rhea Ripley’s comments
As soon as Mami’s comments about being on the higher platform came out, they instantly became a hot topic of discussion. Amid all the speculation Ripley’s recent statement has raised among the audience, Buddy Matthews has also responded to The Eradicator’s comments through his official X handle.
For the record: Yes, I put @RheaRipley_WWE in a triangle choke, slowly increased the pressure & asked her to tap… she didn’t! I felt like my leg was about to snap due to applying to much pressure & gassed out… haven’t lived it down! #truth
— Buddy Matthews (@SNM_Buddy) March 27, 2024
Buddy wrote, “For the record: Yes, I put @RheaRipley_WWE in a triangle choke, slowly increased the pressure & asked her to tap… she didn’t! I felt like my leg was about to snap due to applying to much pressure & gassed out… haven’t lived it down! #truth.” Even though the AEW star didn’t directly refer to Rhea’s interview with Logan Paul, fans have been sharing different opinions after this tweet by him.
A look at the career of Rhea Ripley’s boyfriend
Born on September 26, 1988, as Matthew Adams, Rhea Ripley’s boyfriend has been a pro wrestling fan since his childhood days. His love for the industry was the reason he started in his home country of Australia. In his early days, Buddy worked as Matt Silva, with promotions like Professional Championship Wrestling, and Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW).
In 2013, the 5-foot-11 in-ring performer shifted to the United States to work for WWE, as he joined NXT and formed a tag team with Wesley Blake. Soon, they won the Tag Team titles, making Buddy the first Australian national to win a championship in the company. It was in 2018 that Adams was called up to 205 Live, and he won the Cruiserweight Championship later that year.
In April 2019, the 36-year-old was sent to SmackDown, and then he joined RAW in October 2019, where he aligned himself with Seth Rollins. Their association led them to win Monday Night RAW’s tag titles, but this turned out to be his last major achievement in the promotion.
In June 2021, Rhea’s partner left WWE and started competing for NJPW and Major League Wrestling. After this, Buddy Matthews made his debut for All Elite Wrestling on February 23, 2022. In his first-ever appearance in AEW, Buddy joined House of Black, as he aligned himself with Malakai Black and Brody King, as his signing was made official.
Next year, at Revolution PPV on March 5, 2023, the faction defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) to become the World Trios Championship. After a few months with the prestigious titles, they lost them to The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn at the All In PPV on August 27, 2023. In fact, this was the same event, they paid a tribute to Bray Wyatt.
Ever since losing the trio titles at the event in London, Buddy and his team haven’t been able to regain them. But as he has enjoyed a decent amount of success in the Jacksonville-based promotion, it can’t be said that his run is a failure. Despite this, the comments by Rhea Ripley might force Matthews to reconsider his career plans, especially those about his association with AEW.