All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has spent the past four months announcing its loaded roster of indie stars from around the world joining their active in-ring roster, with the likes of Chris Jericho, PAC, Pentagon Jr. & Fenix, Britt Baker, CIMA, MJF, Christopher Daniels, and Bea Priestley joining The Elite’s Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and Adam “Hangman” Page. They announced WWE Hall of Famer Billy Gunn as their head trainer, Jim Ross, Excalibur and Alex Marvez as their announce team, Alicia Atout as their backstage interviewer, former WWE voice Justin Roberts as their ring announcer, and much more. In the past 24 hours, they’ve revealed their five first announcements for referees and their three solid veterans of the industry.
For 20 seasons, Bryce Remsburg has been the senior official with CHIKARA and has worked many other indie promotions over the years, including Ring of Honor (ROH), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Beyond Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and Game Changer Wrestling (GCW). He began his career in 2002, where he was trained by CHIKARA’s Mike Quackenbush at the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory and has gone on to become one of the greatest referees of the past 20 years on the independent circuit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBv8UoLc3yk
Originally trained as a wrestler in the 1990s, Rick Knox has been a longtime mainstay on the West Coast, starting with Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF). But he’s arguably best known as the senior official for PWG, where he’s been laying down the law since they opened their doors in 2003. He’s also found cruising the ring for other West Coast indies like Bar Wrestling, PCW ULTRA, Alternative Wrestling Show (AWS) and Ground Zero. Knox was also one of the officials for the Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes’ All In event last September.
A 17-year veteran and one of two senior officials with ROH, Paul Turner will be joining AEW in a similar capacity as one of their first three officials with the company. Like Rick Knox, Turner was also a part of All In as a referee.
Aubrey Edwards, affectionately known as “Gearl Hebner” on the indie scene, is a veteran of the Pacific Northwest, where she refs for the likes of DEFY Wrestling and 3-2-1 Battle in Washington and Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) in Vancouver. Last year, she worked for the WWE during the 2018 Mae Young Classic as well as a stint in NXT.
One of the most famous referees in wrestling history, Earl Hebner started in 1977 and during the 1980’s was an official with Jim Crockett Promotions in Mid Atlantic. In 1988, he jumped to the WWF where he remained a top senior official until his dismissal in 2005. In 2006, he joined TNA/IMPACT Wrestling where he held the senior official title until departing in 2017. He was inducted into the IMPACT Hall of Fame in 2015. Hebner was the final official named late on Tuesday night.
While the former ECW World Champion was used as a referee at All In as well, Jerry Lynn was announced last week as joining Billy Gunn’s coaching staff as a trainer. Lynn retired from pro wrestling in 2013 and in 2016 joined ROH as a backstage producer and agent. Apart from being a coach, Lynn could also see similar duties with AEW.
Last week, former AAA and Lucha Underground star Angelico posted a teaser vignette about settling down that proved to be a grand reveal that he was joining his former tag partner Jack Evans (also of AAA and LU) and heading to AEW.
The moment of decision. pic.twitter.com/xPldYIbbWJ
— Angelico (@AngelicoAAA) May 9, 2019
For weeks on Being The Elite, early signings Best Friends (Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor) voiced their displeasure at being booked for the pre-show Battle Royal. On this week’s episode, it was revealed that Best Friends will now instead be in tag team action against Angelico & Jack Evans at Double or Nothing on May 25.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
