Aubrey Edwards Retires from In-Ring Competition After AEW Rampage Match

Aubrey Edwards, despite experiencing criticism from some fans, has become one of the most popular referees in all of AEW. She always brings her unique personality to each match she referees. She has her fair share of critics, and it appears she has no intention of ever wrestling again following her in-ring debut on AEW Rampage last week.

Aubrey Edwards has been a part of AEW since its inception, serving as the referee for the inaugural AEW World Championship match in 2019. Notably, she holds a special place in Chris Jericho’s heart as his preferred referee. A lot of fans also can’t stand her and feel she is just a distraction during matches.

On the June 16 episode of AEW Rampage, Aubrey Edwards made her in-ring debut as she partnered up with Mark Briscoe & Papa Briscoe to square off against Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, & Karen Jarrett.

Aubrey Edwards picked up the win after making Karen Jarrett tap out. While speaking to Battle & Eli on the Battleground podcast, Aubrey reflected on her debut and made it clear she never wants to compete again.

“With wrestling, it’s really important to have storytelling and long-term payoffs. It’s one thing to say, ‘we’re going to hit a referee with a guitar, and she’s going to go down.’ That’s cool in the moment, but where does that go? When you have the traditional heels and babyfaces, if the heels don’t get their comeuppance and the babyfaces don’t end up on top at the end, then you’re really upsetting your fans. Why are they getting invested then? This is traditional storytelling. We have three acts, it’s as old as Shakespeare. From the moment of Double or Nothing when the guitar shot happened, that’s when we started talking, ‘what is the next logical step for this?’ They asked if I was willing to wrestle and I said, ‘I can’t even lock up correctly.’

I’m a dancer. 22 years of ballet didn’t teach me to do a headlock takeover. Those don’t translate. Still physical but a very different form of entertainment. It just came down to, how could we play this up and have fun with it? It was really cool to get opportunities. I got to choke Karen out in a promo. I had a live promo on Rampage, which was insane. It ended up coming down to the match, which was great. It felt really cool. It felt cool, the way we structured everything. I went over with the figure four because that’s also Jay Lethal’s move. So there’s a little bit of meta-ness that long-term fans appreciate because they get it in the moment. It was cool. I’m glad it’s over. I’m retiring undefeated. Not being able to walk for two days without pain. I never want to do that again.”

Aubrey Edwards’ days as an in-ring competitor ended before it truly began, and perhaps that’s a good thing as many fans didn’t like how she wrestled at all. Regardless, Edwards will continue to be a referee and that’s all that matters.

What did you think of Aubrey Edwards’ in-ring debut? Are you glad she retired from in-ring competition? Sound off in the comments!