"We in this together!" - Absent AEW star posts tribute to WWE's Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley wasn't able to come away with a win at WWE Evolution last night, but she received some support from her real-life partner. AEW star Buddy Matthews posted a clip today on Instagram to highlight their bond.

Buddy Matthews and Rhea Ripley are happily married, despite being separated by the promotional divide between WWE and AEW. The two often give fans a glimpse into their relationship online with teasing and heartfelt messages. While Rhea is still chasing the top titles in the sports entertainment juggernaut, Buddy is on an extended hiatus from All Elite Wrestling due to an injury.

During her match against IYO SKY at Evolution, Ripley hit her opponent with a rising knee on the apron, and Matthews immediately recognized it as his own move. He took to Instagram today to post a clip of himself hitting the move, followed by Ripley's rendition from Evolution 2025.

"We in this together! 😎😁😛," Matthews wrote.

Check out his Instagram tribute below:

AEW's Buddy Matthews reveals that Rhea Ripley used to hate him

Long before they became a couple, Buddy Matthews and Rhea Ripley were both working their way up in the Australian independent scene. The Eradicator was just getting her start while Matthews was on the verge of breaking out, and it seems Rhea didn't like him at all initially.

In a recent appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Buddy Matthews revealed that Ripley used to come to the shows he was performing at, and since he was a vicious heel at the time, his future wife couldn't stand him at first.

"She [Ripley] used to watch me when I wrestled in Australia," said Matthews. "Yeah, she was in the crowd, and she HATED me. And she still, to this day—there was this girl, her name was Sway, and I was a heel back then, so one of the angles was she did something, and I just rifled this forearm off on her and dropped her. She thought—she's probably scarred by this, but she remembers it. She hated me."

While Matthews is still looking to work his way back to the ring in AEW, Rhea Ripley remains a top star in WWE. Whether the two will ever share the ring remains to be seen.

About the author

Jacob is an AEW contributor and editor at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He has edited and published over 8,000 articles for Sportskeeda Wrestling in just over two years, and subsequently donned the hat of a contributor, demonstrating his commitment to continuous learning. His experience goes beyond wrestling, with five years as an editor for several independent publishing houses and three years as a captioning specialist.

Jacob's first memory of pro wrestling dates back to Sting vs. Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight Championship at Great American Bash 1990. He later began writing for a newsletter and blog at the University of North Texas, and his love of wrestling naturally led him to seek opportunities in the media.

His favorite wrestler is The Icon, as he feels Sting has evolved throughout his career on a parallel path with his own growth as a person. He was Jacob's childhood hero and teenage idol, and now he makes him less afraid of getting older.

Jacob ensures relevance and accuracy in his articles by working hard to maintain his ideals and objectivity without sacrificing his unique voice, inspiring other writers in the section to follow suit.

Jacob’s non-wrestling interests include Anime, video games, and fantasy novels.

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Edited by Sayantan Niyogi