Professional wrestler and musician Andy Williams, best known to wrestling fans as “The Butcher,” died Saturday night after collapsing following a match at an independent wrestling event in Millvale, Pennsylvania. He was 48.
Williams was competing with his longtime tag-team partner Jesse Guilmette, known as The Blade, at Mr. Smalls Theatre during an Enjoy Wrestling event when he collapsed near the end of the match. He struck his head as he went down and was immediately attended to by medical staff at the venue.
Kurt Hackimer, co-owner of Enjoy Wrestling, said two doctors who were working at the event responded to Williams. CPR and an automated external defibrillator were used while an ambulance was called. Williams was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to determine the official cause and manner of death. A cause of death had not been publicly released as of Monday. Hackimer said the symptoms observed at the scene were consistent with a cardiac event.
The incident brought the wrestling event to an early end. Enjoy Wrestling sent attendees home after Williams was taken away for medical treatment. The promotion had also announced that it was nearing the end of its run of events after more than five years of operating in the Pittsburgh wrestling scene.
Williams built a national following through All Elite Wrestling, where he performed as The Butcher alongside The Blade. The duo joined AEW in 2019 and became familiar figures in the company’s tag-team division. Their AEW contracts expired earlier this year, after which Williams continued appearing on the independent wrestling circuit.
His wrestling career was only part of Williams’ life in entertainment. Before becoming widely known in professional wrestling, he spent more than two decades as a guitarist for the Buffalo-based metalcore band Every Time I Die. He remained with the group from its formation in 1998 until its breakup in 2022.
After Every Time I Die ended, Williams returned to music with Atomic Rule. He had continued working on music with the band and had recently shared an update about new material.
Tributes began spreading across both the wrestling and music communities following news of his death. AEW described Williams as a trailblazing musician who successfully moved into professional wrestling and said he was highly respected by people both inside and outside the ring.
Fellow wrestlers also remembered Williams for his personality away from the spotlight. Matt Hardy described him as kind, funny and deeply talented, while former wrestler Taz remembered him as a genuine and gentle person.
Williams’ death marks the loss of a performer who established himself in two very different worlds. From more than two decades on stage with Every Time I Die to his years as The Butcher in professional wrestling, he developed a following across both music and wrestling.
He was 48.
