AEW Referee Does Not Recommend Slamming Hand Into Thumbtacks
AEW's Ref Aubrey Edwards joined SiriusXM's Busted Open Radio to discuss her career so far in All Elite Wrestling, and Thunder Rosa's AEW Women's World Championship victory in a Steel Cage Match last week.
The barbaric match between Dr Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Thunder Rosa saw a number of weapons introduced, including thumbtacks, which Aubrey revealed she got pretty bad in her knees.
"I mean, I'm not expecting at the end of that, that I'm going to be counting the final three count in a pile tacks," Ref Aubrey said. "The shoulders are where the shoulders are, and ultimately, I care about my job and my job is to see both shoulders on a pin. And if Britt is getting pinned in a spot where I need to lay on tacks, then I gotta count in tacks.
"Part of what makes wrestling great, and what draws me into wrestling is the storytelling aspect. Part of it is — that is the finish. The Thunder Driver, Thunder's gonna win the title, I have to make sure that is an emphatic three count, and I cannot hold back at that moment because that's Thunder's moment and I don't want to lose that. So, was it the best decision I've ever made? No. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
"I actually got them [the thumbtacks] on my knees pretty bad. I wear kneepads under my pants, but they're the McDavid ones, they're a little thinner, so they have the hex thing that spreads. They went through the actual plastic. So, my arms are OK today, but we taped Rampage right after Dynamite last week, and having to count pins in the main event of Rampage when your knees are really bloody, that is not a fun experience and I don't recommend it to anybody."
Ref Aubrey revealed that there's a sliding scale when it comes to her nerves. She explained that refereeing some of the more high-profile matches has come with a lot of nervous feelings.
"There's a couple of those pay-per-view matches where I've been in my own head and super nervous and shaking beforehand," Aubrey Edwards explained. "Probably the most I've been was the last All Out. It was Chris Jericho vs. MJF and if Chris Jericho lost, he had to basically leave AEW.
"And I was nervous as hell for that because not only is that if I screw this up – there's kind of a stipulation here that doesn't work out in his favor, but also, it's just this big moment where they've had a storyline going on for a year and it's a live pay-per-view. and there are all of these things to factor in.
"I did a run-in during Full Gear between Kenny [Omega] and Hangman Page when Hangman Page won the title. And I was so nervous about running down that ramp because there's this gap at the end where it sort of meets the stage, and I just didn't want to just totally fall and plant my face then have to get back up, because then everybody would have only remembered that. They wouldn't have remembered this amazing moment where Page wins the title against Kenny."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit SiriusXM's Busted Open Radio with an h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.