Impact Wrestling is reportedly very interested in signing ex-WWE star Buddy Murphy -- real name Matthew Adams -- following his release from the company earlier this year.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the former TNA Wrestling has every intention of adding Adams to its roster in the near future. "Don't know anything regarding AEW, but do know that Impact is making a major play for the former Murphy," said Meltzer.
While All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has become something of a mecca for ex-WWE stars, numerous other performers have continued to thrive in the Impact Zone after parting ways with the big Dub. For example, former WWE superstars currently signed to Impact include Brian Myers (formerly Curt Hawkins), Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder) and W. Morrissey (formerly Colin Cassady/Big Cass).
Notably, there actually is a bit of cross-promotion going on between AEW and Impact at the moment. Currently, Kenny Omega is both AEW World Champion and Impact World Champion. He will defend the latter title against Sami Callihan tomorrow night at Slammiversary, Impact's biggest annual pay-per-view event.
However, even if Adams inks a deal with Impact, fans probably shouldn't expect to see him pop up at Slammiversary, as he is likely still bound by a 90-day non-compete clause following his departure from WWE in early June. That being said, we actually do know exactly when Adams will wrestle again, as he has booked and independent match against Brian Cage for Battleground Championship Wrestling on Sept. 18. However, the wrestler also recently made a cryptic tweet teasing something on the day of Tuesday, Aug. 31.
Haling from Melbourne, Australia, Adams began his professional wrestling career in 2007, performing for Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW) and Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW) under the name Matt Silva. Adams signed a contract with WWE in 2013, subsequently debuting for its NXT developmental brand under the name Buddy Murphy. In 2014, he formed the Blake and Murphy tag team with fellow NXT star Wesley Blake, with the two going on to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship, which they held for a recognized 205 days.
In 2018, Buddy Murphy lost 25 pounds to compete on WWE's cruiserweight show, 205 Live. He won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (now known as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship) in October of that year at Super Show-Down in his hometown of Melbourne, holding it for 183 days. (That in mind, he would probably be right at home in Impact's X Division.)
As far as his WWE main roster exploits are concerned, Buddy Murphy debuted on SmackDown in 2019 before being drafted to Raw later that same year. In 2020, he allied himself with Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain, and went on to win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship with Rollins. It was also around this time that his name was shortened to simply Murphy. Murphy would ultimately become one of the many wrestlers released by WWE on June 2 of this year.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, via Cultaholic