Pro wrestler Andy Williams, who performed as The Butcher, dead at 48

Andy Williams, the professional wrestler who performed as The Butcher, has died at 48 after collapsing at the end of a match in Millvale, Pennsylvania. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed his death on Sunday. Williams was wrestling alongside his tag-team partner Jesse Guilmette, known as The Blade, at Enjoy Wrestling at Mr. Smalls Theater on Friday night when he suffered the medical emergency.

The promotion said staff doctors tended to Williams immediately, administering CPR until an ambulance arrived, and that everyone was sent home while they waited at the hospital for more information. All Elite Wrestling, where the duo were a fixture, issued a statement mourning Williams as a trailblazing musician who made a successful transition into professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring.

Before wrestling, Williams was the guitarist for the metalcore band Every Time I Die, which he joined in 1998 and stayed with until the group broke up in 2022. He began training as a wrestler in the early 2010s, debuted in 2015, and teamed with Guilmette as The Butcher and The Blade from 2017 across AEW, Ring of Honor and TNA. The wrestling and music worlds reacted to the news on social media over the weekend.