Andy Williams, founding guitarist of beloved metalcore band Every Time I Die and professional wrestler known as The Butcher, has died at the age of 48.
According to Consequence, Williams died after collapsing following a wrestling match in Pennsylvania on Saturday night. He had just competed alongside longtime tag-team partner Jesse “The Blade” Guilmette at an Enjoy Wrestling event at Mr. Small’s Theater in Millvale when he collapsed. Williams was reportedly given CPR at the venue before being rushed to a local hospital, where he later died.
TMZ subsequently confirmed Williams’ death via the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Williams enjoyed a rare dual career across the worlds of heavy music and professional wrestling.
He was a founding member of Every Time I Die, forming the influential Buffalo metalcore outfit in 1998 and remaining with the band until their breakup in 2022.
Across those 24 years, Williams appeared on all nine of ETID’s studio albums, from their 2000 debut Last Night in Town through to their acclaimed final record, 2021’s Radical.
Away from the stage, Williams turned his longtime passion for professional wrestling into a second career, performing under the moniker The Butcher.
Alongside Guilmette as The Butcher and The Blade, Williams became part of the All Elite Wrestling roster, where the duo competed for seven years before their contracts were reportedly not renewed in June. They had since returned to wrestling independently.
As news emerged that Williams had been rushed to hospital over the weekend, his former Every Time I Die bandmate Jordan Buckley asked fans to keep him in their thoughts.
“If you’re a prayer (the praying type), please pray for Andy tonight,” Buckley wrote on X/Twitter.
Following the dissolution of Every Time I Die, Buckley and fellow former members Stephen Micciche and Clayton “Goose” Holyoak went on to form Better Lovers, while Williams had recently formed a new band, Atomic Rule.
Williams leaves behind an enormous legacy across both heavy music and professional wrestling, including more than two decades spent helping shape one of modern metalcore’s most influential bands.
Our thoughts are with Andy Williams’ family, friends, bandmates and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.
Vale Andy Williams.\
Further Reading
We Regret To Inform You That Every Time I Die Have Broken Up
Keith Buckley Shares Statement After Every Time I Die Split: “This Is My Truth”
Better Lovers New Single And Music Video For ‘The Flowering’
