Andy “The Butcher” Williams, a professional wrestler who played guitar with the bands Every Time I Die and Atomic Rule, died Saturday night after collapsing at the end of his match in Millvale, Pennsylvania. He was 48.
Williams was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. The rest of the match was called off after the medical emergency.
His most recent promoter All Elite Wrestling released a statement, saying “All Elite Wrestling is saddened to learn of the passing of Andy Williams, aka The Butcher. A trailblazing musician with ETID and Atomic Rule, Williams made a successful transition into the world of professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring. Our condolences go out to Williams’ family, friends and fans.”
Williams had been competing alongside his tag-team partner Jesse Guilmette, “The Blade” at Enjoy Wrestling’s Five Years event.
The New York native co-founded the Buffalo, N.Y. metalcore band Every Time I Die in 1998, and the group released nine albums before splitting up in 2022. His new band Atomic Rule was set to tour the West Coast in November with GWAR, and earlier on Saturday he had posted, “Update of the work we’ve been putting in! So stoked to share all this with you! We feel like we’ve finally found our feet planted to this beautiful earth and now we’re running full speed!”
He started wrestling on the independent circuit in 2015 at the age of 37, and joined All Elite Wrestling in 2019, performing as the Butcher. Williams and Guilmette’s contracts with All Elite expired in June, and they returned to independent wrestling.
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