If you wondered what happened with the Buddy Murphy and Mysterios storyline...so was Buddy Murphy.
As Murphy tells Fightful, he wasn't really kept up to date with the direction or endgame of the story.
"I was only kept in the loop -- it wasn't my storyline, it was Rey and Seth's. They did the eye thing and there was a lot of stuff where I was with Seth, but then I wasn't brought in for Extreme Rules when Seth faced Rey and I didn't know why. I was part of his act, but I wasn't brought in. Whether it was a pandemic thing, where they didn't want other people, but I had been in the build up so it was weird that I wasn't there. Same when Seth wrestled [Drew] McIntyre after WrestleMania. I wasn't used, but I did the match with McIntyre the week before in the main event of Raw. It wasn't my story, which I understand, so I'm probably not going to have all the facts," said Murphy.
Murphy did, however, have a bit of an idea of where the story was going. He was going to reunite with a familiar face, but then it got nixed.
"The idea, once it got prolonged to keep it interesting, the endgame was that I would be back with Seth. That was the endgame. I don't think they had any idea about the Aalyah thing. It was just to throw a little friction in there, but the endgame was me coming back to Seth. Out of nowhere, it became, 'Buddy won't go back to Seth.' Why wouldn't I go back with Seth? After everything that's happened, I go back with Seth. He beat me, this was when we had our first match and he beat me. The idea was that I was meant to be the second-coming of Seth and that I'm learning from this guy that has held championships in all divisions. The idea was that, when I think that I'm really good, and he beats me; I'm obviously not as good as I think I am. I’m gonna go back with him because I don’t think that I’ve learned enough. I had the match with Seth and we just kept doing it and it was, 'Buddy won't go back with Seth.' Seth wanted me with him, I wanted to be with Seth. Then it became the Rey match and I ended up helping and get accepted by the family. Then, I beat Seth and that was the end of him. He went away to do his family thing," Murphy recalled.
There was no follow up with Rollins after that, outside of a one-off face-to-face months later. That left Murphy as a horse without a stable so to speak.
"The following week, I went to something with Corbin. We got pulled into Vince's office and he laid this pitch down; The Mysterios have been fucked with for months. Now, going forward, the Mysterios are going to fuck with you before you fuck with them. We're like, 'Okay.' In my end, I'm going, 'Eddie [Guerrero]? Cheat?' We played ball with it, but when you're structuring a match like that with Corbin, who is probably the most hated heel, we're out-heeling....this is day one as a babyface and I need the Mysterio family to help me win a match against Corbin after I just beat a former multi-time (champion) and I beat him clean. I need [the whole family] to beat Corbin and we cheated. The only way to structure the match for them to pop up is for me to get stopped. It turns out, when I became a babyface, I lost all my ability to wrestle and I needed the Mysterios to help beat Corbin and I cheated to win as a babyface on my first night. I don't think they were happy with the story. I didn't like it at all, I just thought it was strange. I think the Mysterio's thought it was strange too. The next week, it just got dropped. It was me and Corbin again and I didn't understand why I was wrestling Corbin again when I beat him, but it was Dominik that knocked his foot off the rope. Dominik was the issue and you want to fight me again? I didn't understand that," Murphy told us.
With that familiar face in Rollins being out of the fold, another formet tag team partner of Murphy's was brought in -- at least for a couple of weeks.
"That is when we brought in [Wesley] Blake and [Steve] Cutler. Corbin beat me and the following week we're at TV and someone in the family tested positive for COVID so they went away. I didn't know at this point, we're just sitting around and there is supposed to be a big brawl with Roman [Reigns], The Usos, Corbin, the Mysterios. I didn't see the Mysterios all day and a writer came up to Corbin and said, 'We're taking you out of the big brawl. They think that because you're a new group, you need your own spotlight.' I was like, 'That is strange. I've never heard that before.' I wondered if me and the Mysterios were in it. Then, Rey calls me and tells me the situation. 'So, we're not doing anything?' They ended up doing quarantine and I was in contact with someone who got COVID, so I had to quarantine. By the time I came back, Cutler and Blake were sent home. I didn't know any of this and we get to TV however many weeks later and nothing happened that week," Murphy recalled.
After that, Murphy was just off television, and had no idea what was to become of him. He even resorted to asking Dominik Mysterio if there were any plans for him, as he couldn't contact those in charge.
"Rey and Dominik are doing stuff and I'm like, 'what's going on?' Aalyah is not there. 'Do they need me?' I'm messaging Dominik like, 'Is Aalyah coming to TV?' There was no communication. She was asking her dad, I'm asking Dom and Rey. We had no idea. The dirt sheets said they had dropped the angle. How do the dirt sheets know before I do? I'm trying to track down Bruce [Prichard]. I track him down and I'm like, 'what's going on?' He's like, 'Yeah, we dropped it. We need to come up with a way to get you out of the Mysterio family and put you in something by yourself.' 'Okay, I'd love to go back with Seth.' (We teased going back with Seth) weeks after. I hit up Seth and said, 'Hey, they dropped the angle, I pitched to Bruce that I'd love to come back with you.' It truly is a learning curve for me to work with someone like Seth. I pick his brain nonstop. He said, 'Okay, cool, I appreciate it.' He was up for it and nothing came from it. Randomly, they call me and are like, 'It's you and Cesaro and Seth is gonna do something.' 'Is this bringing me and Seth back together?' 'I'm no sure, but it looks like it.' Really, they fed me bullshit to keep me happy. They had no intention of bringing me back with Seth it seemed," Murphy said.
In June, Murphy, along with several other surprising names, were released by WWE.
You can see our full interview with Buddy Murphy at the top of the page. You can also check out his Twitch at this link.
