Buddy Matthews gives new update on ankle injury recovery

Buddy Matthews is progressing slower than he’d like in his recovery from ankle injury.

Matthews has been out of action since hurting his ankle this February at Grand Slam Australia. The injury happened while he was making his entrance at the show, but Matthews was still able to continue with the match and compete in front of his home country fans, losing to Kazuchika Okada.

Though he did not break his ankle, Matthews suffered ligament and cartilage damage. He was originally hoping to be back in the ring in April, but that timeline has proven to be too optimistic.

“The ankle is not recovering as well as I thought it would be. There’s no mobility to it, if I can’t have mobility, I can’t move properly. Once it hits three months without healing, it becomes chronic,” Matthews said during a new Instagram Live. “I thought I’d be back in the ring in April.“

Matthews’ injury came at a time when the Hounds of Hell (Matthews, Brody King & Julia Hart) were trying to gain momentum following Malakai Black’s departure from the company. On Insight with Chris Van Vliet in April, Matthews said he was looking forward to working six-person tag matches with his stablemates when he returned.

“We just need to get some continuous weeks ahead and really show that the group’s together,” he said. “I’d love to do some intergender tag stuff with Julia. Me and Brody and Julia vs. two men and a female would be awesome.”