WWE Star Cody Rhodes Comments On Death Of AEW's Andy Williams (AKA The Butcher)

This past weekend, AEW talent Andy "The Butcher" Williams suddenly passed away after collapsing at an Enjoy Wrestling event in Millvale, Pennsylvania. Per reports, Williams had competed in a tag team with Braxton "The Blade" Sutter at the event, suffering an emergency before the event concluded.

In the wake of Williams' passing, Cody Rhodes has commented on the time he shared with Williams, specifically during The Butcher's first AEW appearance. "When I was away from WWE, I actually — him and Blade and Bunny — we had recruited them to do this really fun debut," he said during an interview with "Fox News." "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."

Rhodes confirmed the accuracy of the many thoughtful tributes that have flooded social media since the news confirming Williams' passing, specifically how warm, charismatic, and interesting he was. The WWE star displayed appreciation for the way Williams approached wrestling, despite being a successful musician. "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," he added.

"I didn't get to be around him near enough, but I'm really glad I was part of bringing him into that moment," Rhodes further said about the team's AEW debut. "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."