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With this episode of AEW Collision being a tribute to Andy “The Butcher” Williams, giving out Hits & Misses didn’t feel appropriate to me this week. This show was about remembering someone who meant a lot to people in AEW and far beyond wrestling.
I didn’t know Andy personally, and I never had the opportunity to meet him. From watching him on television though, he certainly had the appearance of someone who could walk into a room and scare the hell out of you.
Then you listen to the people who actually knew Andy talk about him, and you realize there was so much more to the person behind The Butcher.
During the tribute video that closed the show, Andy talked about wrestling being like writing a song. He said that once he realized that, wrestling started making more sense to him. Coming from someone who spent so much of his life making music, I thought that was such an interesting way of looking at wrestling.
Throughout the show, though, what stood out to me most wasn’t necessarily what people said about Andy Williams the wrestler. It was what they said about Andy Williams the person.
What I appreciated was that AEW didn’t confine Andy’s memory to one segment. His friends were given opportunities throughout the night to tell us who he was.
One of the more meaningful moments came from The Blade, Jesse Guilmette, Andy’s longtime tag-team partner. The two spent years together as The Butcher and The Blade, including much of Andy’s AEW career.
Blade wasn’t at Collision, but he sent a statement that Tony Schiavone read during the show:
“Andy was the most talented person that I ever met. But I think we all can agree that he was an even better friend.”
That line really stuck with me. We know how talented Andy was. He made it in two incredibly difficult industries: music and professional wrestling. But when someone who knew him that closely had the opportunity to talk about Andy, his talent wasn’t the most important thing. It was the kind of friend he was.
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Daniel Garcia also had a connection to Andy through Buffalo’s wrestling community, which made Garcia winning the Butcher Battle Royale feel even more appropriate.
The match itself was fitting considering Williams finished as AEW’s all-time leader in battle royal eliminations with 26. Garcia won the 12-man match by eliminating Josh Alexander and selected MusiCares, a charity Andy cared about, to receive AEW’s $100,000 donation in Williams’s name.
Afterward, Garcia said something that stuck with me:
“Nights like tonight showed how many lives he’s impacted, and I just hope we can all do the same,” he said.
Eddie Kingston expressed something similar in an emotional message AEW released after Collision.
“Andy… You were such a light, and you brought joy to everybody,” he said.
I’m a big believer in actions over words and, if anything, Andy Williams proved that this week. You don’t get the kind of words we heard from people throughout the show unless your actions while you were here gave them a reason to say them.
That part of the show hit home for me.
Recently a coworker who I worked closely with on the same team died. When something like that happens, you show up for your teammate. Maybe that comes from how my parents raised me or from playing Texas high school football, but I’ve always believed you show up for people when they need you.
That’s what I felt like AEW did this week for Andy Williams.
Listening to everyone talk about Andy also made me think about what any of us hope to leave behind. I hope when my time in wrestling is finished, in whatever capacity that might be, I can say I left this business a little better than I found it.
More importantly, I hope people know I wasn’t constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?” but instead, “How can I help?”
After this week, their words and actions said it all.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Shows as this can never be an easy watch. I would much rather be telling you what I liked about Nick Wayne’s promo or breaking down Jon Moxley vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey. But there are certain times when there are things bigger than wrestling happening in front of you.
I don’t envy AEW for having the responsibility of putting together shows like this. We’ve seen them have to do it before with Brodie Lee and Jay Briscoe. More recently, we saw AEW use its platform with Rebel and ALS. Now they’ve been asked to honor Andy Williams’s life.
This wasn’t about losing a television character called The Butcher. This was someone’s family member, coworker, and good friend.
Giving wrestlers moments throughout the show to speak about Andy felt important. Grief looks different for everyone, and sometimes having the chance to talk about someone you loved is part of that process.
Pac really struck me because we almost never see him in that type of setting. There was no character to play. It was just a person talking about someone he cared about.
And God bless you if you watched Eddie Kingston’s message that AEW shared after Collision. Grab some tissues because you’re in for a good cry.
Wrestling doesn’t have an offseason. The shows keep coming, the stories keep moving, and eventually everyone has to move forward. But moving forward also requires opportunities to grieve.
Sometimes you need moments like this where it’s okay to cry, acknowledge that what happened really sucks, and celebrate why someone meant so much to you in the first place.
I never knew Andy Williams. After watching this show and listening to the people who did, though, I feel like I understand a little better why they loved him.
Andy Williams may not have won a world championship in AEW, but after everything I heard this week, it’s pretty clear he was a world champion of a human being.
Rest in power, Butcher. You will be missed.
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