At the end of 2023, All Elite Wrestling had been through the PR ringer and then some. The grand bet of CM Punk imploded twice in as public a manner as possible between ‘Brawl Out’ in 2022 and ‘Brawl In’ in 2023, leading to Punk’s public firing.
There was no shortage of other PR problems between fights getting out online and contract disputes spilling out into creative. It didn’t help that several members of the AEW roster made it clear in one way or another, this was just a stepping-stone to WWE, leading to reported disputes regarding creative and refusing to lose.
It was not a pleasant time for the still-young wrestling promotion. AEW wasn’t going to go under, but it was a cold period to say the least.
Heading into 2024, though, things looked to be turning the corner.
AEW still had an all-star roster of talent to lean on, along with several fledging stars who would command the top of the card very quickly. Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley were the ever-reliable “aces” as Swerve Strickland and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page were in the midst of one of AEW’s most violent rivalries ever, and the tragedy of ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm and Mariah May enraptured crowds on a weekly basis.
However, AEW still needed to right the ship after so much bad PR and the most assured way to do that was going to a “meat and potatoes”-approach of professional wrestling. Good, consistent matches and storylines that was able to strike a good balance between ease of consumption and intrigue.
And if one wrestler on the entire AEW roster most personified this, it was The Butcher.
Outside of professional wrestling, he was better known as Andy Williams, the rhythm guitarist for Every Time I Die.
Andy, or Butcher as he’ll be referred to from here on, had been part of the AEW roster since nearly the beginning. Butcher debuted on the ninth episode of Dynamite in November 2019, alongside his tag team partner The Blade, by attacking Cody in a now infamous and unintentionally hilarious all-time AEW segment.
Despite the awkward start, the two were able to find their footing as a pair of heavy-handed, old school-style brawlers. They really got to shine during the COVID-19 lockdown as an ever-reliable team and got to shine in multiple tag matches against opponents like The Young Bucks and FTR or in singles matches against Jon Moxley.
If there was an AEW show that day, fans were likely to see something from the team.
It wasn’t always easy going for the team, especially Blade who would be side-lined with a severe back injury that was going to keep him out for roughly two years in early 2024. This left Butcher on his own to find his way in AEW and beyond for the time being.
Butcher worked 19 matches under the AEW umbrella after Blade was injured, most often appearing on Rampage, Collision, or Ring of Honor in all manner of matches. He was an in-your-face, straight-forward type of pro wrestler who for as rugged as he looked, fans knew they were gonna see a good match. His simple, “meat and potatoes”-type of pro wrestling meant Butcher could work with pretty much anyone on the roster and have a good match.
He was an unsung backbone of the roster who regularly made his opponents look better, but was still recognized and appreciated by the fans for this selflessness.
It reads of the person wrestlers and musicians knew as Andy, a gifted guitarist who’s rugged exterior belied a hyper-talented, hardworking artist and person many praised for his unconditional compassion and kindness for others. He was someone beloved for being a ray of sunshine in his band and various wrestling locker rooms Andy was part of. He was quick to offer help, as well, in whatever way he could, whether it was helping with certain stage duties at live shows or going to bat to AEW President Tony Khan over and over again for a wrestler named Willow Nightingale.
Butcher could be called upon to wrestle names like Darby Allin or Daniel Garcia and be that credible win they need heading into a bigger match on Dynamite or a pay-per-view. It didn’t matter that Butcher didn’t win often, he gave his opponents such a fight fans knew that person was better for being in the ring with The Butcher.
It was an approach to wrestling that AEW, itself, leaned on in 2024 as it worked to course correct and begin building several key pieces of AEW’s future. The promotion, as mentioned earlier, focused on delivering consistent match quality and storylines that were easy to follow but still managed to deliver genuine intrigue.
At the same time, it was nothing that reinvented the wheel. Sure, AEW pushed the envelop on plenty of occasions including actually burning down a house, but the root story was one fans had seen play out in various different iterations. It was two wrestlers, tag teams, etc, who find themselves at odds simply out of a desire to be the top name for the promotion. These are stories and angles as old as the wrestling industry, itself, and can always be recycled when a promotion finds itself in the position AEW did at the time.
It is this period that lays the foundation for what would become AEW All In 2026 and the crowning of Will Ospreay.
Its a reminder that comes at a fitting time as the music and wrestling industry pays its respects to ‘The Butcher’ Andy Williams in the wake of his sudden and tragic passing. AEW, where Butcher called home for seven years, paid its initial respects to him on Rebel Heart Dynamite, a special planned ahead of time as a tribute to Rebel and raise awareness for ALS, which Rebel was diagnosed with in May 2026. Rather than risk one overshadow the other, AEW touched on Butcher twice during the show, announcing that the following Collision would be a proper tribute to Butcher.
This included many AEW wrestlers and backstage personalities sharing their love for Butcher and what he meant for AEW and everyone, individually. The main event was a Butcher Battle Royale where the winner would select a charity to receive a $100,000 donation from AEW in Butcher’s name.
It hasn’t been limited to AEW, either, as many wrestlers across the independents paid tribute to Butcher in various ways. It shows just how far Butcher’s reach was in the wrestling industry, alone, and what he meant to so many people.
Rest In Power Andy ‘The Butcher’ Williams, 1977-2026
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