Buddy Matthews just gave AEW fans one hell of a reason to keep their eyes on tonight’s Redemption pay-per-view.
An hour before the show went live from Montreal, Matthews posted a black-and-white photo of himself on Twitter with a message that sounded less like motivation and more like a warning.
“They left me in the darkness, convinced I’d never find my way. Redemption was waiting where they stopped looking.”
That is not exactly subtle. The post immediately sparked talk that Matthews could be planning something for AEW Redemption, especially now that he has finally been cleared to wrestle again after more than a year on the shelf. Matthews recently confirmed that the medical roadblock was gone with another dark message of his own.
“The Devil signed the clearance. Hell stamped its approval. No more barriers. Only timing.”
The AEW star suffered the injury during his entrance at Grand Slam: Australia in February 2025. He tried to keep going before eventually undergoing surgery, but lingering nerve damage and numbness turned his recovery into a long, brutal process. Matthews later showed himself training again and made it clear that the setbacks had not killed his comeback.
“Worked through the setbacks. The comeback will speak for itself.”
He even appeared at World Series Wrestling’s Rise Against event earlier this month, but admitted at the time that he still did not have full medical clearance. Now he does. Matthews is expected to wrestle during World Series Wrestling’s October and November tour through Australia and New Zealand, but his latest post has fans wondering whether they will see him much sooner than that.
AEW Redemption already has Kenny Omega defending the AEW World Championship against Kevin Knight, Thekla facing Willow Nightingale, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage battling PAC and Claudio Castagnoli, and Chris Jericho bringing back the Painmaker against Tommaso Ciampa.
Still, Matthews choosing the exact word “Redemption” just before a pay-per-view with the same name is going to get attention. Maybe it is nothing more than a message about his comeback. Maybe Buddy Matthews is about to step out of the darkness and straight into AEW’s biggest story of the night.
Do you think Buddy Matthews is teasing an appearance at AEW Redemption, or is he simply setting the stage for his return? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
