WWE star Cody Rhodes reacted to the death of Andy Williams, who was known in pro wrestling as The Butcher.
Williams died over the weekend after he collapsed following a match at Enjoy Wrestling in Pennsylvania. He was 48.
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Guitarist Andy Williams and vocalist Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die attend the 2014 Gibson Brands AP Music Awards at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 21, 2014. (WireImage)
Rhodes was a part of The Butcher’s All Elite Wrestling debut. The Butcher, The Blade and Bunny appeared from underneath the ring to attack Rhodes after a match. Rhodes recalled the moment in an interview with OutKick Dropkick.
“When I was away from WWE, I actually — him and Blade (also known as Pepper Parks) and Bunny — we had recruited them to do this really fun debut,” he said. “He came up under the ring and they beat me up, and I definitely didn’t get to spend near enough time with him as a person. But all the things you’re hearing about him in terms of how warm and charismatic and interesting — not a guy that needed the gig, he had another gig, and super cultured and intelligent. And again, The Butcher — you see this big, just the mustache and the tattoos and the muscles. Maybe if you had judged that book by its cover, you wouldn’t know how truly special, intelligent, artistic, and beautiful of a person that he was.
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WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, speaks to the Bloodline. (IMAGN)
“I didn’t get to be around him near enough, but I’m really glad I was part of bringing him into that moment and, I wish everyone around him thinking about them, and wish them the best. And they’re very much in my heart today. I told Brandi about that this morning and just such a shock, so young. Beautiful person, and he leaves behind multiple locker rooms of people that he touched, that all of them 100% have a good memory and a good story about him.”
Williams was also a musician in the band Every Time I Die.
He started training as a wrestler in the early 2010s and made his debut on the scene in 2015. He and Guilmette began to team up in 2017 and called themselves The Butcher and The Blade. They appeared in several promotions, including AEW, Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and elsewhere.
Cody Rhodes speaks during SmackDown at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 8, 2026. (Rich Freeda/WWE)
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The pro wrestling world mourned the loss of Williams on Sunday.
