AEW wrestler Andy “The Butcher” Williams has died at 48 after collapsing during a tag team match in Pennsylvania, with his death confirmed by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Andy Williams, known to wrestling fans as The Butcher, died Saturday night after suffering a medical emergency during a match at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania.
Williams was competing in a tag team bout alongside his longtime partner, The Blade, against TME at an Enjoy Wrestling event billed as the promotion’s Five Years show.
According to Fightful, his legs buckled before he fell to the floor. The Blade tried to help him back up, but Williams collapsed again and passed out.
Medical staff on site rushed in and began CPR before he was taken away by ambulance.
Enjoy Wrestling confirmed the incident in a statement, writing: “Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening. Our doctors on staff tended to him immediately, administering CPR until the ambulance arrived. We sent everyone home and are at the hospital now waiting for more information.”
The rest of the show was canceled on the spot.
Hours of confusion before the tragedy was confirmed
The reporting on the tragedy was initially messy with wrestling podcaster Famous Davis claiming Williams had died at Allegheny General Hospital and that his next of kin had already been notified. Enjoy Wrestling pushed back hard, calling the death claim untrue and asking people to delete posts repeating it.
Finally the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed to TMZ that Williams had passed away.
A career that spanned two very different worlds
Williams had been wrestling for over a decade, but spent the better part of the last seven years in AEW as one half of The Butcher and The Blade. Along with Allie, now known in TNA as a Knockout, the trio was among the first acts to sign with the promotion back in 2019, debuting that fall as hired muscle for MJF in an attack on Cody Rhodes during just the ninth episode of AEW Dynamite.
Outside the ring, Williams was also known as the rhythm guitarist for the metal band Every Time I Die.
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