During a recent appearance on the “Danger Zone” podcast, AEW referee Aubrey Edwards commented on the CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs match at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On finding out she’d be officiating CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs: “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*.”
On her thoughts on refereeing the match: “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.]”
