Andrew Williams, Every Time I Die guitarist known to wrestling fans as ‘The Butcher,’ dies

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. He was 48. 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. “Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening,” Enjoy Wrestling, the promoter putting on Saturday’s event, said on X. “Our doctors on staff tended to him immediately, administering CPR until the ambulance arrived.” 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. “I remember being like, ‘Oh, my God, I got to get out of here,’” he told Renee Paquette in a 2022 interview. Williams recalled living with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, which prevented him from learning how to read music. But, he told Paquette, “I just picked up a guitar and it just made sense.” Williams played with Every Time I Die from the group’s inception in 1998 to it’s disbandment in 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. In 2025, Williams’ new band, Atomic Rule, released a demo 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. “Get ready, because Atomic Rule is going to be coming and smashing it,” Williams said in the 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.” 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 crystalized in his mind. In 2015, at age 37, he finally wrestled his first full match. Four years later, he’d debut on All Elite Wrestling, performing on television until his contract expired in 2026. Williams described the similarities between music and wrestling to “HardLore.” “Anyone who’s written a song can wrestle a wrestling match,” he said. “It’s very similar to like — putting a song together is just like putting a wrestling match together. There’s ups and downs, there’s peaks and valleys.” Despite his talents in two different arenas, Williams told interviewer and wrestling personality Alicia Atout in a 2017 interview that his “true life calling is just to make my friends laugh.” “That makes me feel like a million bucks, if I can get dudes rolling,” he said. Former colleagues and fans began paying tribute to Williams on 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. “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. “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????” Wrestler Matt Hardy, who worked with Williams at AEW, called him a “kind, funny & deep individual who was an extremely talented musician & wrestler.” RJ City, an AEW interviewer and member of the company’s creative team, highlighted Williams’ intellect. “Andy Williams was so smart and cultured that it made both his chosen careers all the more insane,” City said. “He was the opposite of how he looked, we were lucky to know 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. “He had every right to have an ego, but he didn’t,” Nightingale said. “He reached his hand out and did what he could to help 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.”