Aubrey Edwards recalls refereeing her first-ever CM Punk match.
Aubrey Edwards has quickly become one of the most identifiable personalities in modern pro wrestling since joining AEW in 2019. Aubrey Edwards has candidly stated that CM Punk is one of the reasons that she fell in love with professional wrestling and recently, she was able to referee one of his matches.
Not only did she referee one of his matches, but she refereed his return to New York City inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, on the biggest show in AEW history.
Speaking with Chris Denker on the Into the Danger Zone podcast, Aubrey recalls learning that CM Punk wanted her to referee his next match and details the nervousness she felt on that day.
"I found out I was going to be reffing that match. I think we were in Cincinnati. I think that was the show after All Out. Punk told me he's like, 'Hey, I want you to ref my next match.' Yeah, he like fist bumps, walks away. So I don't know what his next match is, cool. I mentioned to Paul because Paul [Turner] is our senior referee, he does all the assignments. I'm like, 'Hey, Punk had mentioned to me that he wants me to ref his next match. He goes, 'Okay, cool.' Then, come to find out it's going to be his match with Will Hobbs at Rampage in Queens and the biggest show we've ever done. Okay, cool. Thankfully, I had had two matches before that. So I had gotten the warm-up and the nervousness out, which is silly because I literally did the match right before which was the Women's Title match on Dynamite and that was nerve-wracking. Main events are always hard because you have to be off the air by a certain amount of time. So timing is really really critical for them, so there's that. I have literally run to the back, chug a bottle of water, go back out for Rampage. Like it was just insane, but I am standing in the ring. Hobbs does his entrance. Then the little sound right before Cult of Personality starts playing and I just look at Hobbs and he's just like *mimicks swearing*"
Ultimately, it was an easy night for Aubrey as she was a big fan of CM Punk and knew all of his signature spots. That did not, however, stop it from being a very nerve-wracking experience for her.
"Ultimately, it was an easy match. I've watched this stuff so much that it's like, 'Okay, I know what he's gonna do. I know how it's gonna work. I know all these spots,' but I get to the back and funny enough, Jericho is standing there and goes, 'Hey, how was it?' I'm like, 'I have not been that nervous since the first time I worked with you.' Total shoot. I had literally not been that nervous since the [inaugural title match.]"
Recently, Aubrey has been referred to as the senior referee in the promotion on television. Aubrey was given the opportunity to hold and unveil the TBS Championship, a new title belt for the women in AEW which will crown its inaugural champion on January 5 in the culmination of a tournament. Learn more here.
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