He collapsed at the end of a tag team match last night in Pennsylvania
Every Time I Die guitarist Andy Williams has tragically passed away. A co-founder of influential Buffalo metalcore band, Williams was currently a professional wrestler known as “The Butcher.” Last night (September 5), Williams suffered a medical emergency towards the end of a match in Pennsylvania, and died. He was just 48-years old.
According to the report, Williams was competing at an Enjoy Wrestling event at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, near Pittsburgh, when he collapsed near the end of a tag-team match. He was wrestling alongside his longtime partner Jesse Guilmette, better known as “The Blade,” against TME. Medical personnel at the venue immediately came to Williams’ aid and administered CPR while waiting for an ambulance. He was transported to a hospital, and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently confirmed his death. As of this article’s publication, an official cause of death had not been announced.
Williams was best known to music fans for his more than two decades with Every Time I Die. He helped form the band in Buffalo, New York, in 1998 alongside guitarist Jordan Buckley and drummer Michael “Ratboy” Novak and remained a central part of the group throughout its entire recording career. Williams played rhythm guitar on all nine of Every Time I Die’s studio albums, helping establish the chaotic combination of hardcore punk, metalcore and classic-rock-inspired riffing that made the band one of the most influential heavy acts of its generation. The group’s catalog included albums such as Hot Damn! (2003), Gutter Phenomenon (2005), The Big Dirty (2007), New Junk Aesthetic (2009), Ex Lives(2012), From Parts Unknown (2014), Low Teens (2016) and its critically acclaimed final album, Radical, released in 2021. Every Time I Die unexpectedly broke apart in early 2022 following escalating internal tensions involving vocalist Keith Buckley, ending a career that had lasted more than 20 years.
Following the end of Every Time I Die, Williams remained involved in music. He formed Atomic Rule in 2023, eventually assembling a lineup featuring bassist Travis Bennington, drummer Kevin Boutot and vocalist James Hendergroove. The group released the three-song With Skull Crushing Force demo EP in September 2025, giving Williams a new outlet for the crushing, groove-heavy guitar work for which he had become known. Williams had expressed considerable enthusiasm for the project, describing Atomic Rule as the kind of collaborative band environment he had long wanted. The group represented the latest chapter in a musical career that stretched from underground hardcore clubs to major international festivals.
At the same time, Williams accomplished something particularly unusual: he successfully built a second career as a professional wrestler. A lifelong wrestling fan, Williams had originally pursued wrestling before Every Time I Die became his primary career, but a knee injury helped redirect his attention toward music. Years later, he returned to that ambition and began wrestling professionally in 2015. Performing as the intimidating, monocle-wearing “Butcher,” Williams formed The Butcher and The Blade with Jesse Guilmette. The pair eventually joined All Elite Wrestling in 2019 and became familiar figures on AEW television. Williams’ wrestling career was more than a celebrity side project; he earned respect within the industry as a legitimate performer who had committed himself to training and regularly competed while continuing his musical career. After his AEW contract expired in June 2026, he and The Blade returned to working independent dates together.
The circumstances surrounding Williams’ death made the news especially shocking. Enjoy Wrestling said that he collapsed at the conclusion of his match and that doctors on site immediately began treating him, including performing CPR until emergency personnel arrived. The promotion canceled the remainder of its fifth-anniversary show as Williams was transported to the hospital. Reports from people at the event indicated that a defibrillator was also used while medical personnel attempted to revive him. The match had been particularly significant because The Butcher and The Blade were challenging TME for the promotion’s tag-team championship.
Following confirmation of his death, All Elite Wrestling paid tribute to Williams, describing him as both a pioneering musician and a performer who had successfully crossed into professional wrestling. AEW emphasized the respect Williams commanded from colleagues both inside and outside the ring and offered condolences to his family, friends and fans. Tributes from throughout wrestling and heavy music similarly focused on Williams’ personality as much as his accomplishments. Fellow wrestlers remembered him as encouraging, generous and remarkably supportive of younger talent, while musicians and fans celebrated the enormous influence of his work with Every Time I Die.
Ultimately, Revolver’s report frames Williams’ death as a major loss for two communities in which he had established genuine credibility. With Every Time I Die, he helped create a body of work that profoundly influenced modern metalcore and hardcore, his muscular rhythm playing becoming an essential component of the band’s sound. As The Butcher, he managed the rare feat of beginning a serious professional wrestling career after already becoming internationally successful in music. His death at only 48 abruptly ended a career that was still active on both fronts, with Williams continuing to wrestle independently and having only recently begun a new musical chapter with Atomic Rule.