Buddy Matthews reveals his and faction members' AEW status after Aleister Black's WWE return

Malakai Black recently left AEW, and now, Aleister Black has returned to WWE. Buddy Matthews, Brody King, and Julia Hart were left without their faction leader, but Tony Khan quickly regrouped and proceeded with new plans for the faction. Amid a brief delay, the trio appears poised for greatness in AEW's near future.

House of Black started at PWG in 2021 as Brody and Aleister formed Kings of The Black Throne. The former PWG World Tag Team Champions eventually linked back up in AEW, and formed The House of Black in January 2022, adding Buddy the following month, and Julia Hart a few months later. The group's perceived leader left AEW earlier this year amid frustration and has since returned to WWE.

The Best Kept Secret, Big Bad, and The Princess of The Black Throne were re-branded as Hounds of Hell when Malakai Black's AEW release was confirmed. While King and Hart are active, the trio is on hold as Matthews recovers from an ankle injury. Speaking to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview, Buddy was asked about House of Black's status now that Aleister has returned to WWE.

"So Hounds of Hell have started. Obviously, we rebranded as the Hounds of Hell. It's still House of Black, it's just not under that name. We're just adding a little bit more color to it, and just doing a bit more talking ourselves. We don't want to just be House of Black under a new name. We need to change a little bit, new coat of paint. So we started that, obviously. Then I hurt my ankle, unfortunately," Matthews said.

Alberto Del Rio returning to WWE?

Buddy Matthews continued:

"So then that kind of takes me out of the picture. Brody has been killing it, he's having these f***ing blinders with Takeshita. Brody's a big man that can do a lot of stuff and is killing it. But yeah, hoping we can get back to the Hounds of Hell, maybe have to a bit of a reboot just to kind of tell us that we're all back together and stuff with Julia and stuff like that. But yeah, I'm sinking my teeth to get back in. I need that creative outlet to start going again," Matthews said. [H/T CVV]

Matthews is on the shelf after suffering an ankle injury during the hometown loss to Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada on February 15 at Grand Slam: Australia. The loss came two weeks after Hounds of Hell were defeated by Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher on Dynamite.

AEW Dynamite updated lineup

All Elite Wrestling will invade Chartway Arena in Norfolk, VA, for tomorrow's live Dynamite. Below is the updated lineup:

MJF will appear live
The Hurt Syndicate will speak
Toni Storm will issue Title Eliminator Open Challenge
Owen Hart Cup Semi-final: Adam Page vs. Kyle Fletcher
The Young Bucks, Ricochet, and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega, Mike Bailey, Mark Briscoe, and Kevin Knight

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AEW will then travel to Atlantic City, NJ for Saturday's Collision at Adrian Phillips Theater. Dynamite will return to Detroit on May 7 at the Masonic Temple Theatre, followed by Collision at the same venue.

About the author

Marc Middleton is a writer from North Carolina, USA. He is currently in his first year at Sportskeeda as a contributor to the WWE section.

Marc began roaming the online world of wrestling in 1997, and has worked in the IWC since 1998-1999. He spent most of the past 15 years working for the biggest independently owned sports entertainment websites.

Marc enjoys free timing in his free time. He lives with the most beautiful girl in the world, and they plan to never have kids, but they are blessed enough to have the best dog in the world who just had his 15th birthday.

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Edited by Arsh Das