Wrestling Star Known as ‘The Butcher’ Dies at 48

Rock musician turned wrestler Andy Williams has died after collapsing during a match. Williams, known as “The Butcher,” was 48. His death was announced by All Elite Wrestling on social media on Sunday, who said Williams had made a “successful transition into the world of professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring.” Enjoy Wrestling co-owner Kurt Hackimer said Williams had been performing at a show in Millvale on Saturday when he collapsed ringside after the match and hit his head on the floor, as reported by KDKA’s Ricky Sayer. “Medics on site indicated that the symptoms were consistent with a cardiac event, but we were told that the cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy,” Hackimer said. TMZ published dispatch audio from the match which says a male wrestler “hit his head” on a ring post. Williams died at 9:43 p.m., around an hour after the incident, the Office of the Allegheny County Medical Examiner confirmed to People. Before becoming “The Butcher,” Williams was the founding guitarist of Buffalo metalcore band Every Time I Die, playing with them from their formation in 1998 to their split in 2022. Known as soft-spoken and calm outside the ring, Williams adopted his wrestling nickname as one half of the tag team “The Butcher and The Blade,” with friend Jesse Guilmette in 2017. Williams joined All Elite Wrestling in 2019 and formed a new band, Atomic Rule, in 2023. Coheed and Cambria drummer Josh Eppard praised Williams for being in “one of the most true and influential bands in heavy music” and also “pulling double duty as a pro wrestler.” Eppard said the jobs were, “Two dreams we have as kids that 99.9 percent of the time float off into adult dust … he did em both. The world will miss Andy and selfishly, so will I.”
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