Buddy Murphy

Adams made his debut on 8 September 2007 as Matt Silva, at Professional Championship Wrestling (PCW), where he teamed with Jacko Lantern to defeat Adam Brooks and Diaz.[7] He won the PCW State Championship by defeating Danny Psycho on 3 December 2010.[8][9] He was also a mainstay in Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), where he won the MCW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Slex on 28 January 2012.[10] He held the championship for 293 days.[11]

Murphy (left) and Blake as NXT Tag Team Champions in May 2015

On 17 March 2013, Adams signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory NXT. On 23 November, he debuted as Buddy Murphy at an NXT house show, teaming with Sawyer Fulton and Troy McClain against Angelo Dawkins, Colin Cassady, and Wesley Blake. On 15 May 2014 episode of NXT, he teamed with Elias Samson in a losing effort against The Ascension.[12]

In August 2014, Murphy formed a tag team with Wesley Blake. On 14 August episode of NXT, they were defeated in the first round of a number one contender tag team tournament by The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara).[13] For the rest of 2014, they lost multiple matches to The Lucha Dragons and The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch).[14][15][16][17] Also in October 2014, they lost a number one contender tag team battle royal, being eliminated by The Ascension.[18]

On 21 January 2015 episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy defeated The Vaudevillains and quickly challenged The Lucha Dragons to a title match. On 28 January episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy defeated the champions to win the NXT Tag Team Championship, making Murphy the first Australian to hold a championship in WWE.[19] At NXT TakeOver: Rival, Blake and Murphy, now billed simply by their surnames, defeated the Lucha Dragons in a rematch for the title.[20] Following that in March, Blake and Murphy began a feud with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, who were intent on capturing the tag titles.[21] Blake and Murphy attempted to woo Carmella on several occasions.[22] On 13 May episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy distracted Carmella during her match with Alexa Bliss, causing her to lose.[23] At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, during Amore and Cassady's NXT Tag Team Championship match against Blake and Murphy, Alexa Bliss came out mid-match and attacked Carmella and Amore, ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy.[24] After making several successful title defences, Blake and Murphy lost the championships to the Vaudevillians at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, ending their reign at 219 days.[25][26]

On 18 May 2016 episode of NXT, after losing to Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura, Bliss and then Blake walked away from Murphy, teasing a split for the team.[27] On 1 June episode of NXT, his ring name was reverted to Buddy Murphy, where he was defeated by Tye Dillinger.[28] On 15 June episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy reunited, but after a miscommunication between the two, they were defeated by TM-61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne).[29] The following week, Murphy announced himself as a singles competitor by interrupting Shinsuke Nakamura, leading to a match with Nakamura, which Murphy lost.[30] On 4 January 2017 episode of NXT, Murphy teamed with Tye Dillinger to defeat Bobby Roode and Elias Samson, and this turned out to be Murphy's last televised appearance in NXT, before being called up to main roster.[31]

Murphy performing the "Murphy's Law" (Pumphandle Death Valley Bomb) on Cedric Alexander during his Cruiserweight Championship celebration in April 2018

In early 2018, Murphy lost about 25 pounds and asked to compete on the 205 Live brand.[32] On 20 February episode of 205 Live, he made his debut as a participant in the Cruiserweight Championship tournament, defeating Ariya Daivari in the first round but lost to Mustafa Ali in the quarterfinals.[33] On 27 March episode of 205 Live, Murphy defeated TJP, Akira Tozawa, Kalisto in a fatal four-way match for a future shot at the Cruiserweight Championship. On 10 April episode of 205 Live, Murphy attacked new WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander from behind, starting a feud between the two.[34] However, Murphy failed his mandatory weigh-in and was removed from the match and the 205 Live roster until he met the weight requirement. On 8 May episode of 205 Live, Murphy defeated Ali in a rematch from their Cruiserweight Championship tournament quarterfinal match.[35]

He started a storyline where he had to lose weight, challenging Alexander for the title on 29 May episode of 205 Live, where he failed to win the title.[36] The following week, he had a match with Mustafa Ali that ended in a no-contest after both men were attacked by Hideo Itami,[37] who won a triple threat match against both men the following week.[38] On 3 July episode of 205 Live, he lost to Ali in a No Disqualification match.[39] He then went on to form a tag team with Tony Nese and they would subsequently feud with Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado and Kalisto).[40] On 6 October at Super Show-Down in his hometown of Melbourne, Murphy defeated Alexander to win the Cruiserweight Championship, his first singles title in WWE, the first Australian man to accomplish this feat.[41] Murphy subsequently retained the title against Mustafa Ali at Survivor Series and Alexander at TLC, respectively.[42][43]

On 27 January 2019, Murphy successfully defended his title in a fatal four-way match against Akira Tozawa, Kalisto and Hideo Itami at the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show after pinning Itami.[44] On 17 February, Murphy retained his title against Tozawa at Elimination Chamber.[45] At the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff Show, he lost his title to former partner Tony Nese, ending his reign at 183 days. Prior to this loss, Murphy had been undefeated in televised singles matches dating back to July 2018.[46] On 9 April episode of 205 Live, Murphy was again defeated by Nese in a rematch for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.[47]

On 16 April, Murphy was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up.[48] He participated in the 51-Man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown, but was unsuccessful.[49][50] On 30 July episode of SmackDown, a stack of scaffolding fell onto Roman Reigns backstage. Murphy was shown in the background of the event.[51] The following week, Reigns confronted Murphy about his involvement in the event. After being physically intimidated by Reigns, Murphy revealed that Rowan was Reigns' mystery attacker.[52] At SummerSlam, Murphy defeated Apollo Crews by disqualification, after Rowan attacked him mid-match.[53] Two nights later on SmackDown, Murphy made his in-ring debut for SmackDown, losing to Reigns.[54] The following week, Murphy defeated Daniel Bryan in an upset victory.[55] On 19 August, Murphy was announced as one of sixteen competitors in the King of the Ring tournament.[56] Murphy faced Ali in the first round on 27 August episode of SmackDown Live, where he was eliminated.[57]

On 14 October, Murphy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2019 draft.[58] In his debut match on the brand, Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander.[59] Over the following weeks, Murphy would develop a winning streak, defeating the likes of R-Truth,[60] Cedric Alexander,[61] Akira Tozawa,[62] Matt Hardy,[63] and Zack Ryder.[64] He entered in a 20-man battle royal at Crown Jewel on 31 October to determine who would face AJ Styles for the United States Championship later in the night, but he failed to win.[65] Murphy engaged in a feud with Aleister Black towards the end of 2019. However, he lost to Black at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[66] the 30 December episode of Raw[67] and the 13 January 2020 episode of Raw.[68]

On 13 January episode of Raw, after losing his match to Aleister Black, Murphy sat at ring side in distress throughout the remainder of the show. During the main event, Murphy aligned with "Monday Night Messiah" Seth Rollins and AOP, allowing them to defeat Big Show, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens and joining in their stable as a disciple.[69] The following week on Raw, Murphy and Rollins defeated The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) to win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.[70] On 7 February, his ring name was shortened back to simply Murphy.[2][71] Murphy and Rollins successfully defended their titles against The Street Profits at Super ShowDown on 27 February,[72] but eventually lost the titles to them in a rematch on 2 March episode of Raw. Their reign ended at 42 days.[73] Murphy and Rollins failed to reclaim the championship from the team at Elimination Chamber six days later.[74]

On 20 April episode of Raw, Murphy lost to Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank ladder match qualifier.[75] The following week, Murphy saved Rollins' from an attack by Drew McIntyre. However, McIntyre laid him out with a Claymore.[76] The two had a match where McIntyre defeated Murphy. Some weeks later on Raw, Rollins savagely attacked Rey Mysterio in a tag team match, where he and Aleister Black battled Rollins and Murphy, and won by DQ when Rollins pulled Mysterio off of the ring apron. In the midst of the post match assault, Mysterio's eye was severely injured in storyline when Rollins forced his face onto the steel steps. After this event Murphy restarted his rivalry with Black.[77] On 27 July episode of Raw, Murphy and Rollins injured Black's right eye by driving it through the steel steps.[78] Murphy and Rollins continued feuding with Mysterio which also saw the involvement of Mysterio's son Dominik Mysterio. At Payback, Rollins and Murphy were defeated Rey and Dominik after Murphy accidentally kicked Rollins costing them the match.[79] This would cause tension between Rollins and Murphy as Rollins began berating Murphy telling him to stay backstage and not get involved in his matches. However, on 14 September episode of Raw, after Murphy interfered during a Steel Cage match between Dominik and Rollins and accidentally slammed the door against Rollins, Rollins would viciously attack Murphy.[80] Murphy would then begin a storyline with Mysterio's daughter Aalyah after he apologised to her for Rollins' actions towards her family leading her to believe that Murphy is not as bad as Rollins.[81] On the 5 October episode of Raw, Murphy attacked Rollins after he refused to apologize to him, thus appearing to turn face for the first time in his WWE career. After Murphy would force Rollins to apologize to Aalyah and the Mysterio family, Rollins would assault Murphy with a kendo stick until Aalyah intervened.[82]

As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Murphy was drafted to the SmackDown brand.[83] On the 30 October episode of Smackdown, Aalyah kissed Murphy in front of her father and brother while Rollins observed from the stage, thus confirming their status as a couple.[84] He cemented his face turn by costing Rollins a No Holds Barred Match against Mysterio on the 13 November episode of SmackDown and shaking hands with Rey and Dominik afterwards.[85] On the November 20 episode of SmackDown, Murphy defeated Rollins to end the feud.[86]