Buddy Matthews Targets October Return From Ankle Injury

Buddy Matthews appears to be nearing the end of a lengthy road back from injury, with the AEW star recently revealing he expects to be fully cleared to compete by October.

Matthews has been sidelined since February 2025 after suffering an ankle injury, a absence that has kept the former House of Black member off AEW television for well over a year. In May 2026, he made an appearance for a promotion in Australia and got physical inside the ring, a clear sign that his rehab had progressed to the point where he could start testing the injury in a live setting.

During that appearance, Matthews indicated he anticipated being officially cleared to return to full-time competition by October 2026, giving fans and the promotion alike a concrete timeline for the first time since he went down.

Ankle injuries can be notoriously tricky for in-ring performers, especially one like Matthews, whose style leans heavily on agility, striking and high-impact maneuvers. The fact that he was comfortable enough to get physical during an Australian booking suggests the injury has healed to a stage where contact work is no longer a major risk, even if he isn’t quite ready for a full AEW schedule just yet.

Matthews’ absence has been a notable loss for AEW’s trios and tag division. As part of House of Black alongside Malakai Black and Brody King, he was a key piece of one of the promotion’s most visually distinct and consistently pushed factions. The group built its identity on dark, ritualistic presentation and hard-hitting in-ring work, with Matthews often serving as the high-flying counterpart to King’s power and Black’s technical menace. Losing a third of that trio for such an extended stretch forced AEW to get creative with how House of Black was portrayed on screen, and it’s fair to assume the group’s long-term plans have been on hold pending his health.

An October target also lines up with AEW’s broader autumn plans, when the promotion typically ramps up toward its end-of-year premium live events. If Matthews sticks to that timeline, it would give him a runway to get back into ring shape before AEW’s biggest shows of the year, and it would give House of Black a chance to reassert itself as a unit heading into 2027.

Of course, comeback timelines in wrestling are estimates, not guarantees, and further updates on his official clearance will be worth tracking as October approaches. For now, the news that Matthews is even testing himself physically again is the clearest indication yet that his year-and-a-half layoff is finally winding down.