Andy Williams, the musician who built a second career in professional wrestling as The Butcher, has died after suffering a medical emergency at an independent wrestling show in Pennsylvania. He was 48.
Williams collapsed Saturday night at the end of a match during Enjoy Wrestling’s fifth-anniversary event at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, near Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently confirmed his death to TMZ.
He had reunited with longtime tag-team partner The Blade for a match against TME when the emergency occurred. Enjoy Wrestling said doctors at the venue immediately began CPR and continued until an ambulance arrived, while the promotion canceled the remainder of the show.
Williams spent much of his adult life moving between two physically demanding worlds. He was a founding guitarist for Buffalo metalcore band Every Time I Die before becoming one of AEW’s most distinctive wrestlers, later returning to independent wrestling and launching another heavy-music project after his AEW run ended.
Doctors Began CPR After Williams Collapsed at the End of His Match
Enjoy Wrestling said Williams went down at the conclusion of his Sept. 5 match and received immediate treatment from doctors working at the event. “Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening,” the promotion said, adding that CPR continued until an ambulance arrived.
F4WOnline reported that paramedics also used a defibrillator and performed chest compressions before Williams was transported from the venue. Enjoy Wrestling sent the audience home and canceled what remained of its fifth-anniversary event.
Witnesses cited by wrestling outlets said the match had appeared to be proceeding normally before Williams’ legs buckled and he went down. Fightful reported that The Blade signaled for assistance after Williams attempted to get back up and then collapsed again.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed that Williams had died. No official cause of death had been announced.
The Butcher and The Blade Became an AEW Fixture
Williams joined All Elite Wrestling in 2019 alongside Jesse Guilmette, better known as The Blade. With The Bunny frequently accompanying them, The Butcher and The Blade debuted on the Nov. 27 episode of Dynamite and became recurring figures in AEW’s tag-team division.
Williams’ appearance made him difficult to mistake for anyone else on the roster: a shaved head, enormous mustache, extensive tattoos and a bruising style that leaned into the presentation of an old-school wrestling heavy. He appeared across Dynamite, Rampage, Collision and Ring of Honor programming while facing teams and wrestlers including the Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Darby Allin and the Hardys.
The partnership was interrupted when The Blade suffered a serious back injury that eventually required spinal fusion surgery. Williams continued working singles matches in his absence, making his final AEW in-ring appearance in February 2025 against Gabe Kidd.
In June 2026, Fightful reported that both men’s AEW contracts had expired and the company did not offer extensions. They returned to working together on the independent circuit, eventually reuniting again at the Enjoy Wrestling event where Williams suffered his final medical emergency.
Williams Helped Build Every Time I Die Before Wrestling Took Over
Long before The Butcher appeared on national wrestling television, Williams helped form Every Time I Die in Buffalo in 1998 alongside vocalist Keith Buckley, guitarist Jordan Buckley, bassist John McCarthy and drummer Michael “Ratboy” Novak.
Williams remained the band’s rhythm guitarist throughout its run, helping shape the frantic combination of metalcore, hardcore, punk and Southern-rock influences heard across records including Hot Damn!, The Big Dirty, Ex Lives, Low Teens and Radical. Epitaph Records has described the band as pushing metalcore beyond its usual boundaries through aggressive riffs, unusual grooves and an increasingly distinctive sound.
Every Time I Die built a devoted live following over more than two decades before its members announced the band’s breakup in January 2022. By then, Williams’ wrestling career had developed far beyond a side project, allowing him to move almost full time into the persona that had made him recognizable to AEW viewers.
Atomic Rule Had Put Williams Back Behind the Guitar
The end of Every Time I Die did not turn out to be the end of Williams’ music career. After initially stepping away from guitar and focusing on wrestling, he began writing again and formed Atomic Rule, a heavy band that became increasingly active in 2025 and 2026.
The group’s lineup included Williams on guitar, vocalist James Hendergroove, bassist Travis Bennington and drummer Kevin Boutot. Atomic Rule released new music and played shows throughout 2026, while Williams described the project as an opportunity to build something musically different after spending more than two decades inside the same band.
As recently as August, Williams appeared on The Todd Christopher Podcast for a two-hour conversation about reinvention, wrestling, relationships and returning to music after Every Time I Die. The episode described Atomic Rule as his newest chapter after a career that had repeatedly shifted between guitar stages and wrestling rings.