Rhea Ripley And Buddy Matthews' Love Story, Inside Their WWE Journey, Marriage And Massive Age Gap
Rhea Ripley is considered one of the best female wrestlers in WWE. Amid that, let's take a look at her personal life.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleFormer WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley has often been regarded as one of the best wrestlers in WWE. The star rose to fame with her impeccable skills inside the ring. However, not many know about the ring she exchanged with the love of her life, AEW wrestler Buddy Matthews. The wrestling couple has supported each other's goals since the very beginning, making them one of the most successful relationships in the wrestling world.
Rhea Ripley is one of the biggest superstars in WWE, having reached the company's pinnacle. In 2023, she was named ESPN's Female Wrestler of the Year and the No. 2 ranked wrestler by Sports Illustrated. She also won the WWE Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 39 that year in 2023. So, as she hits the limelight again, let's take a look at her love story with her husband, Buddy Matthews.
How did Rhea Ripley meet her now-husband Buddy Matthews?
Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews met while they were both wrestling in WWE. They both got their start on the company's developmental NXT brand, and eventually moved up to the main roster while overlapping on the NXT roster for a year. According to reports, Buddy joined WWE under the NXT brand in 2013 and won the NXT Tag Championship before joining the main roster in 2018.
Rhea, on the other hand, also began her WWE tenure in NXT in 2017, where she won the NXT Women's Championship before making her main roster debut in March 2021. However, Rhea and Buddy's relationship was not an instant connection, as the latter was engaged to WWE superstar Alexa Bliss at the time.
However, soon after she joined WWE, the couple parted ways amicably. Buddy Matthews and Rhea Ripley overlapped on the main roster for a few months following Rhea's March 2021 debut before Matthews left WWE in June 2021 and joined AEW in February 2022. A few months later, in April 2022, Rhea and Buddy shared their first video together.
In the video, Rhea confirmed their relationship when a fan on X (formerly Twitter) asked her, "Rhea, what does he have that I don’t have?" and she replied, "Me." Despite their eight-year age difference, the couple found solace in each other. And coincidentally, it seems like they pushed each other for the better, as the world took notice of their rise in the ranks of wrestling around the same time.
They were named CBS Sports' Breakthrough Wrestler of the Year in consecutive years, with Buddy Matthews receiving the honor in 2018 and Rhea Ripley in 2019. Buddy won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in 2018 while Rhea began that year as the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion. However, their achievements didn't end there, as Buddy became the first Australian to hold any WWE Championship belt, and Rhea became the second.
Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews' engagement and marriage
After being together for over a year, Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews announced their engagement in August 2023. The engagement came as a massive happy surprise for the fans, as many thought she was dating Mysterio at the time. However, once she posted a picture on Instagram of herself kissing Matthews' cheek on a beach while wearing an engagement ring and captioned the picture:
"1000x YES! Pure F------ happiness!"
The couple got married in June 2024, ten months after their engagement. However, for her wedding day, Rhea Ripley ditched the white gown and opted for a black off-the-shoulder gown, while Buddy Matthews is in a black suit. They shared a joint post, with the caption, "Til death."
What are your thoughts on Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews' relationship?
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