Andy Williams, the AEW star known to wrestling fans as The Butcher and to metal fans as the longtime guitarist of Every Time I Die, has died at 48. Williams collapsed Friday night near the end of a tag team match at Enjoy Wrestling’s Five-Year Anniversary show, held at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh.
He and his longtime partner The Blade (Jesse Guilmette) were working against TME when, according to multiple eyewitnesses, his legs buckled and he went down. Blade immediately signaled for help. Enjoy Wrestling posted the following statement that night:
Fans in attendance described the promotion’s medical staff and paramedics working together to administer CPR and use an AED before Williams was taken out by ambulance, at which point the rest of the show was called off. In the hours that followed, unconfirmed reports of his death began circulating online before official word was available, prompting Enjoy Wrestling to push back publicly and ask people to stop spreading unverified information while Williams was still being treated.
Over the weekend, TMZ reported that the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office had confirmed Williams had, in fact, passed away following Friday night’s medical emergency. No cause of death has been released pending an autopsy. Enjoy Wrestling later posted a two-word tribute of its own: “Butcher Forever.”
One Half of a Great AEW Tag Team
Williams joined AEW in 2019 and quickly became a fixture of the promotion’s early years as one half of The Butcher and The Blade, a chaotic brawling duo rounded out by the group’s manager, The Bunny. The trio built a reputation as dependable, hard-hitting hands who could work with anybody on the roster, memorably feuding with Orange Cassidy among others during AEW’s formative era. Williams brought a genuinely unique presence to the trio: a working musician who, by his own account, treated wrestling and songwriting as two versions of the same craft.
A Founding Member of Every Time I Die
Outside the ring, Williams was a founding rhythm guitarist of Every Time I Die, the influential Buffalo metalcore band he helped build from the ground up, appearing on all nine of the group’s studio albums before it split in 2022. More recently, he’d been fronting a new project, Atomic Rule, alongside vocalist James Henderson, bassist Travis Bennington (of Eternal Sleep), and drummer Kevin Boutot (formerly of The Acacia Strain).
As recently as August 14, Williams gave an interview confirming a new project chronicling Every Time I Die’s history was in the works, while acknowledging a full band reunion was unlikely, a small, poignant detail now given the timing.
Wrestling and Music Mourn Together
Tributes poured in from both worlds Williams called home. Matt Hardy wrote that Williams “was a kind, funny & deep individual who was an extremely talented musician & wrestler,” adding, “My thoughts & prayers go out to all of Andy’s family, friends & fans. RIP brother.” Corey Graves posted a broken heart. Musician Andy H. Murray wrote that “with ETID (and later Atomic Rule), he blazed musical trails, redefined heavy music, and influenced a generation,” calling him “a great man with a beautiful soul.” The Stunner sends its condolences to Andy Williams’s family, his Butcher and Blade tag team partner Jesse Guilmette, his bandmates, and everyone across wrestling and music who called him a friend.
