The wrestling world continues to mourn former AEW star Andy “The Butcher” Williams, who unexpectedly died after suffering a medical emergency earlier this month. For AEW CEO Tony Khan, the loss hit especially hard as Williams spent years working under him and had recently met with him about potentially expanding their professional relationship. On a personal level, Khan and several AEW figures also considered Williams a model human being.
“When Andy passed, it’s very hard on a lot of the people in AEW,” Khan said on the AEW All Out media call, audibly emotional. “I think a lot of people really really liked Andy here. He’s a very very well-liked guy backstage for many reasons. He’s a very talented person, very humble, very very kind, big heart, just a really nice guy. I wanted to make sure we did a show in his memory that was befitting his stature and the way that everybody felt about him. I thought that a lot of that came across very accurately in the Andy Williams tribute show. I was very proud of everyone in AEW came together that day and everybody involved in putting that together for Andy. We’ll miss him very much.”
As mentioned, AEW hosted a special edition of “AEW Collision” on September 12, specifically honoring the late wrestler and musician. Fellow Buffalo native Daniel Garcia went on to win a battle royal in the main event, with $100,000 then being donated to the charity of his choice in Williams’ name.
In the wrestling bubble, Williams broke out as an AEW original alongside his tag team partner, The Butcher, in AEW. In music, fans knew him as a founding member of Every Time I Die, and later, Atomic Rule. According to Khan, Williams made a pitch to bring those two worlds together under the AEW banner just last month.
Khan Details His Backstage Meeting with Andy Williams
“Andy was very interested in working in the office and he had really good ideas,” Khan said. “So I had set up a meeting with Andy and the AEW officials last month to talk about his thoughts on ways he could contribute to promoting. Andy had ideas that he could do music shows in collaboration with AEW and build some events outside of the wrestling show that would get eyeballs on the wrestling show and maybe bring some people from the music community into wrestling. That is one of his ideas. He had a number of good ideas, including that. I thought it was really compelling what Andy was saying and I was interested in it.”
At the time of Williams’ death on September 5, Khan noted that the idea of bridging music with wrestling was a work in progress. Where he and other AEW officials stand on it now is unclear.
Williams departed from AEW as a wrestler earlier this year after his contract expired. His last AEW match pitted him against Gabe Kidd on the February 22, 2025 edition of “Collision.” On the night of his death, Williams was wrestling alongside The Butcher in a tag team match at Enjoy Wrestling when he suddenly collapsed. He later passed way at a local hospital in Pennsylvania.
Williams’ colleagues, both in wrestling and music, flooded social media with heartfelt tributes and condolences after the sad news emerged.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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