He Played Guitar for Two Decades, Then Started a Second Career in the Ring. He Collapsed in the Middle of a Match. He Was 48.

The tag team match was already over when it happened. Andy Williams, wrestling as "The Butcher" alongside his longtime partner The Blade, had just finished competing at a converted church-turned-music-venue outside Pittsburgh. Then he collapsed.

Williams collapsed at the conclusion of his match against TME at an Enjoy Wrestling event held at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 5. Medical staff on site began CPR immediately and continued until paramedics arrived and transported him to a hospital. He was pronounced dead that night. He was 48. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has not released a cause of death pending an autopsy.

Long before AEW, Williams was a founding member of the Buffalo metalcore band Every Time I Die, playing rhythm guitar on all nine of the group's studio albums across more than two decades until the band announced its breakup in January 2022. He didn't leave music behind for wrestling — he built the second career alongside the first, debuting as a professional wrestler in the early 2010s and joining AEW in 2019, where he and The Blade became a recognized tag team under the villainous "Butcher and the Blade" gimmick.

AEW confirmed his death in a statement, remembering Williams as a musician who successfully moved into professional wrestling and became highly regarded by everyone he worked with. Tributes followed quickly from wrestlers including Matt Hardy and Athena, describing a performer who, despite playing a "bad ass" villain on screen, was known backstage as a genuinely warm presence.

No cause of death has been confirmed. The medical examiner's findings, once released, will determine whether this was a sudden cardiac event, an unrelated medical condition, or something tied directly to the physical toll of the match — a question that matters both for his family and for a wrestling industry that has faced scrutiny before over in-ring medical emergencies.