Buddy Matthews formerly known as Buddy Murphy in WWE has been announced for making his NJPW debut during next month’s Battle In the Valley event.
The show will be taking place from San Jose, California on November 13. The news was confirmed during Saturday’s NJPW strong taping from Philadelphia where the promotion aired a video package promoting his arrival:
After wrestling for various indie promotions for over half a decade, Buddy Matthews was signed to a development contract by WWE back in March 2013.
In NXT, he became known for his team with Wesley Blake. This duo known as Blake and Murphy had Alexa Bliss as their manager. They won the tag team titles once.
After the break-up of his team with Blake, Buddy Matthews made his made roster debut in 2018, competing on 205 Live. He won the cruiserweight championship there before being moved to the SmackDown brand.
The former SmackDown star was released from his WWE contract on June 2. He has already become a free agent after completing the 90 days non-compete period.
It’s unknown whether Matthews has signed a contract with the Japanese promotion or if his deal is on appearance basis. Though a contract with NJPW will still keep the door open for his AEW debut because of the partnership of the two companies.
