Andy Williams, the 48-year-old professional wrestler known to fans as “The Butcher” and to metalcore audiences as a founding guitarist of Every Time I Die, died Saturday night after collapsing near the end of a tag team match at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed his death Sunday morning, resolving hours of uncertainty that followed his collapse in the ring.
[b1] Williams had been wrestling alongside tag partner The Blade against the team TME for the Enjoy Wrestling Tag Team Championship when, according to eyewitness accounts reported by Complex, his legs buckled and he fell to the floor. The Blade attempted to help him back up, but Williams collapsed again and lost consciousness. Medical staff and doctors on site rushed in, performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator in an effort to revive him, per Enjoy Wrestling and as first reported locally by WPXI. Williams was transported to Allegheny General Hospital after the incident Saturday night.
[b2] In the hours immediately following the collapse, Williams' condition was not publicly known. Enjoy Wrestling issued a medical update, the outlet's report notes. By Sunday morning, TMZ had confirmed through the medical examiner's office that Williams had passed away, a detail also corroborated by Ringside News. An official cause of death remains pending as county authorities complete their review.
A Milestone Show Turns Into Tragedy
[b4] The event, billed as “Five Years” to mark Enjoy Wrestling's fifth anniversary, was part of a planned farewell tour for the promotion, which announced in August that it would cease operations later this fall, according to PWPonderings. Founded in Pittsburgh in 2020, Enjoy Wrestling built a national reputation as an inclusive promotion dedicated to showcasing LGBTQ+ performers, women, and wrestlers of color, the outlet reports.
[b5] Just one night before his collapse, Williams and his AEW tag partner Jesse Guilmette hosted a professional wrestling training seminar for local talent through Enjoy Wrestling, part of the promotion's anniversary weekend schedule, according to Loudwire. The seminar was part of the promotion's anniversary weekend schedule.
From Buffalo Metalcore to National Wrestling Stardom
[b7] Williams made his professional wrestling debut in 2016 and gained wide recognition after signing with All Elite Wrestling in 2019, performing under the ring name “The Butcher” alongside Guilmette on AEW's flagship broadcasts, including Dynamite, according to Sports Illustrated.
[b8] Before his wrestling career took off, Williams spent more than 20 years as the rhythm guitarist for Every Time I Die, the Buffalo, New York-based metalcore band, which disbanded following its final show in 2021, per Wikipedia. Williams sustained a knee injury during wrestling training and learned to play guitar. In 2026, Williams remained musically active as a guitarist for the newly formed metalcore band Atomic Rule, which featured members of Eternal Sleep and The Acacia Strain and was writing and demoing new music, per the same Loudwire report.
Inside The Converted Church Where He Collapsed
[b10] Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale hosted the event. It was the venue where Williams collapsed.
Williams' death leaves a dual legacy spanning two distinct fan communities, from the heavy music scene that followed Every Time I Die for more than two decades to the professional wrestling audiences who came to know him as The Butcher. His passing came just as Enjoy Wrestling, the promotion he helped headline during its milestone weekend, was preparing to close out its own five-year run this fall.
