Andrew Williams, the longtime rhythm guitarist for metalcore band Every Time I Die, who went by “The Butcher” in his other career as a professional wrestler, has died, All Elite Wrestling has confirmed.
asserted
Wrestling → die → wrestler
Williams’ death was announced hours after he collapsed during an independent wrestling show in Millvale, Pennsylvania, and was rushed to a hospital by ambulance Saturday night.
asserted
he → announce → ambulance
“Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening,” Enjoy Wrestling, the promoter putting on Saturday’s event, said on X.
asserted
Wrestling → collapse → event
“Our doctors on staff tended to him immediately, administering CPR until the ambulance arrived.”
asserted
ambulance → tend → CPR
Williams grew up in the Buffalo, New York, area, thinking he was going to follow his father’s and uncles’ footsteps and work at a factory when he got older.
asserted
he → grow → factory
“I remember being like, ‘Oh, my God, I got to get out of here,’” he told Renee Paquette in a 2022 interview.
asserted
he → got → interview
Williams recalled living with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, which prevented him from learning how to read music.
asserted
which → recall → music
But, he told Paquette, “I just picked up a guitar and it just made sense.”
asserted
it → tell → sense
Williams played with Every Time I Die from the group’s inception in 1998 to it’s disbandment in 2022.
asserted
I → play → 2022
“The band became known for turning chaos into catharsis, pairing breakneck intensity with anthemic hooks and off-kilter grooves,” according to Epitaph Records, which signed the group in 2008.
uncertain
which → know → 2008
In 2025, Williams’ new band, Atomic Rule, released a demo EP.
asserted
band → release → EP
On Saturday, just hours before his collapse, Williams spoke in a video on the group’s Instagram page, saying they’d just wrapped up writing new music and would be appearing on tour with Gwar in November and December.
asserted
they → speak → November
“Get ready, because Atomic Rule is going to be coming and smashing it,” Williams said in the video.
asserted
Williams → get → video
Between the ropes, Williams dispensed with his soft-spoken, easygoing demeanor and instead went by “The Butcher,” putting his burly, heavily tattooed body to hard-hitting use as one half of the tag team “The Butcher and The Blade.”
asserted
Williams → dispense → team
Though he’d loved pro wrestling as a child, he told the “HardLore” podcast in 2025 that it wasn’t until he attended a show held by Southern California indie promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla around 2014 that the idea of becoming a wrestler himself finally crystallized in his mind.
asserted
idea → love → mind
In 2015, at age 37, he finally wrestled his first full match.
asserted
he → wrestle → match
Four years later, he’d debut on All Elite Wrestling, performing on television until his contract expired in 2026.
asserted
contract → debut → 2026
Williams described the similarities between music and wrestling to “HardLore.”
asserted
Williams → describe → HardLore
“Anyone who’s written a song can wrestle a wrestling match,” he said.
asserted
he → write → match
“It’s very similar to like — putting a song together is just like putting a wrestling match together.
asserted
putting → ’ → match
Despite his talents in two different arenas, Williams told interviewer and wrestling personality Alicia Atout in 2017 that his “true life calling is just to make my friends laugh.”
asserted
friends → tell → 2017
“That makes me feel like a million bucks, if I can get dudes rolling,” he said.
asserted
he → make → bucks
Former colleagues and fans began paying tribute to Williams on Sunday.
asserted
colleagues → begin → Sunday
Josh Eppard, the drummer for rock band Coheed and Cambria, called Williams’ death “beyond heartbreaking” and recalled his kindness, saying he met Williams during a 2019 tour.
asserted
he → call → tour
“Peace to Andy, the kind giant who I thought was doing some backyard wrestling s--- with his buddies until one day I saw his mug on the TV and was in stunned disbelief,” Eppard said.
asserted
Eppard → think → disbelief
“Andy was not only a pillar of one of the most true and influential bands in heavy music, he was also pulling double duty as a pro wrestler????”
asserted
he → pull → wrestler
In a statement, actor, musician and “HardLore” host Colin Young said Williams was a “beacon of kindness, the benchmark of cool, and an unbreakable pillar of love and support to everyone in his life.”
asserted
Williams → say → life
“To know Andy was to love Andy,” Young wrote, “but more importantly, to know Andy was to feel loved by Andy.”
asserted
know → know → Andy
Wrestler Matt Hardy, who worked with Williams at AEW, called him a “kind, funny & deep individual who was an extremely talented musician & wrestler.”
asserted
who → work → him
RJ City, an AEW interviewer and member of the company’s creative team, highlighted Williams’ intellect.
asserted
City → highlight → intellect
“Andy Williams was so smart and cultured that it made both his chosen careers all the more insane,” City said.
asserted
City → make → ?
“He was the opposite of how he looked, we were lucky to know him.”
asserted
we → look → him
Former AEW women’s world champion Willow Nightingale recalled Williams encouraging her, raising her confidence and advocating for her before she’d been signed to the company.
asserted
she → recall → company
“He had every right to have an ego, but he didn’t,” Nightingale said.
asserted
Nightingale → have → ego
“He reached his hand out and did what he could to help others.”
uncertain
he → reach → others
Wrestler Josh Alexander called Williams “one of the best people I ever met.”
“I’ll remember Andy for what he was,” Alexander wrote on X. “A dude with an enormous heart that could always put a smile on my face.”
uncertain
that → call → face
