Rhea Ripley Explains Why She Hated Buddy Matthews When They First Met

Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews may look like the perfect wrestling power couple now—but according to Ripley, their story started with pure hatred.

During her interview with Chris Van Vliet, Ripley revealed the rocky beginning to their relationship, explaining how she couldn’t stand Buddy the first time she met him—and it all goes back to an indie wrestling show in Australia. Ripley explained that long before they shared a life together, Buddy—then known as Matt Silva—earned her instant dislike after punching one of her favorite wrestlers.

“I used to hate him. I hated him with a passion because I loved Sway, which was a female wrestler, and he was from Melbourne, and he came… I can’t remember if he was in the… no, he wasn’t in the crowd—Jimmy was in the crowd. He came from the back and he just punched Sway straight in the face. I was like, sir, how dare you? I don’t think I saw him before that too, I think that was like my introduction to Matt Silva at the time, and he punched Sway straight in the face and then Jimmy Scarlet jumped the barricade and chased him away, and then they had like a whole feud and all that. But yeah, I didn’t like him.”

That first impression stuck. Ripley admitted that after that night, they barely crossed paths. Buddy left Australia for the U.S. right as Ripley was starting out in the business, and when they did see each other at the WWE Performance Center or in passing at NXT, their conversations were short and awkward.

“I didn’t actually talk to him much. His last show in Australia was my first show, and I was working merch, so I wasn’t even on the show. He literally left as I was starting in this business. So once he came to America, like he was at the PC a little bit with the CO era, so I would see him there. And I saw him a little bit in my NXT run as well, but he wasn’t really there at the same time as me. But we’d have like random conversations in passing or just like little bits and pieces or he’d look depressed, and I’d be like, ‘You okay?’ ‘Yeah.’ And that’s about it really. That’s all we ever said to each other.”

The two finally had a real conversation thanks to a surprising family connection—Ripley’s sister started dating Buddy’s best friend.

“My sister actually started dating his best friend, and I went up to him and I was like, ‘You know Kalista’s dating Brooksie, right?’ He goes, ‘What?!’ He never told me that! And then that started a whole conversation. He’s like, ‘I don’t like it.’ I was like, ‘I think they’re cute, but maybe you’re right.’ And then we would talk about their relationship, which kind of made our relationship a little bit better.”

But it wasn’t until a Halloween party at LA Knight’s house that things really changed. Ripley admitted she didn’t even want to go to the party, but a friend convinced her—and fate did the rest.

“Then it came down to a Halloween party at LA Knight’s house, and yeah, I rocked up late. I didn’t want to go. Simone actually made me go. I rocked up at like 11 PM. I was dressed as Freddy Krueger. I didn’t actually have a proper costume. I just put this random woolen thing on that was black and red lines, and then I had the claw, and I had the hat, and that’s all I had. I had high boots on. I was like, ‘Yeah, Freddy.’ I was not planning to go to this party. I wanted to go to bed so bad. But at that time, I didn’t really know anyone. I wasn’t really an out-of-home body. I still am not. But yeah, she made me go to that party. And then as I was leaving, I saw him on this rocking chair, just gone, absolutely gone. I was like, ‘Bye, Buddy.’ He’s like, ‘Bye, Rhea.’ And that was it.”

The next day, Buddy messaged Ripley to apologize for how she saw him at the party, which led to them meeting up for sushi—and their entire dynamic changed.

“The next day, he messaged me. He’s like, ‘Sorry that you had to see me like that.’ I was like, ‘It’s okay.’ And then we caught up and had sushi. And it was the first time that I had actually opened up to someone straight away. It was such a weird feeling, ’cause I had had conversations with him before, but I feel like because they were all at work, they were centered around work. But when we went and got sushi, he was a completely different person. I saw the happy, bubbly side of him, the protective side. I talked to him about everything that has happened in my life before that moment—the bad, the good, the everything. I told him about past relationships. I told him about things that I’ve overcome. And just watching him and his demeanor, and how then he would open up, but he’d also get angry or upset or happy for me about those situations… I was like, ‘Okay, he’s actually listening, and he actually cares.’ Where a lot of people, you talk about your life and you’re like, ‘Ah, they’re just listening for the sake of listening.’ But he actually listened, which then helped me open up more. And by the time that date was over, like, he knew so much about me—so much more than he had already known. And I just knew from pretty much then, I was like, he’s someone special that I kind of want to continue seeing and see where this goes.”

Fast forward to today, and Ripley and Buddy are happily married with three dogs—and that initial hatred? Long gone.

“Now we’re married. We got three fur babies. It’s wild. We have Luna, who is my first. I got her when I first moved over, so she’s like seven and a half. Then I have Barry, who I got with my ex-partner, and he’s a handful. But he loves Dad. He’s his favorite. And then we got Bella, who we got off a crack addict in the middle of the road. It’s wild. But yeah, I love them. Matt is the best husband I could ever ask for. He does absolutely everything for me.”

From despising him to building a life together, Ripley’s story proves first impressions don’t always tell the full story.