AEW's Aubrey Edwards Recalls Working As Referee For WWE Evolution, Mae Young Classic
A year before signing with All Elite Wrestling, referee Aubrey Edwards appeared under the banner of WWE to officiate matches in the 2018 Mae Young Classic, a string of "WWE NXT" live events, and Evolution, WWE's first-ever all-women's pay-per-view. As Edwards previously pointed out, her WWE experience didn't result in a contract. It did, however, leave her with an abundance of new knowledge.
"I was really fortunate to get the opportunities I did with [WWE]," Edwards recently told "Casual Conversations with The Classic" "I got to do the Mae Young Classic, the second one. I got to do their Evolution pay-per-view. I got to do a couple of their local shows in the Florida area. If anything, I got a lot of growth opportunities out of it. Being able to learn from some of the best people in the industry really does impact you as a referee, especially on the indies. There are a lot of lessons that I took from that I still use to this day."
According to Edwards, her WWE experience also brought forth some new connections, such as former Intercontinental Champion Ricochet, with whom she currently works alongside in AEW. "It was very funny when we suddenly met back up at [AEW] and I'm like 'Hey, how's it going buddy?' He's like 'Yeah this was a matter of time.'"
One of Edwards' memorable WWE calls came under some rather unfortunate circumstances when Tegan Nox suffered a knee injury in a quarterfinals matchup of the 2018 Mae Young Classic. Initially, Nox tried to power through the injury, but minutes later, Edwards and the doctor were forced to end the match and award the victory to Rhea Ripley.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Casual Conversations with The Classic" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.