The wrestling world continues to mourn the death of Pac, whose real name was Benjamin Satterley, following AEW All Out 2026. Satterley had competed at that event for the AEW National Championship, and the response to his passing has reflected the unusually broad mark he left across modern professional wrestling.
Pac’s career connected multiple generations, companies and styles. He was known to WWE audiences as Neville and became a defining presence in AEW after the promotion’s launch, while his work around the world had long established him as one of wrestling’s most distinctive high-flyers and most intense personalities. In the days following his death, wrestlers who shared rings, locker rooms and major career moments with Satterley have spoken publicly about what he meant to them.
WWE has also assembled a video featuring talent offering tributes and memories. Cody Rhodes, who worked with Satterley at different points in both WWE and AEW, has now provided additional context about how those personal messages came together at a television taping.
Kevin Owens set up a space for WWE talent to speak
Rhodes revealed that Kevin Owens, one of Satterley’s close friends, arranged for a camera to be available so WWE wrestlers could choose to record their own thoughts about Pac. The gesture gave talent an opportunity to participate in a tribute without forcing anyone into a public statement before they were ready.
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“He had a camera set up for all of us to go speak to, if we wanted to speak about Ben,” Rhodes said.
That detail speaks to the personal nature of the memorial effort. Professional wrestling is built around weekly travel, constant competition and changing locker rooms, but it also creates relationships that can last across promotions and throughout entire careers. A figure like Pac touched many corners of the industry, including performers who were no longer working alongside him on a regular basis.
Owens’ role in creating that space is particularly meaningful given his long-standing friendship with Satterley. Rather than making the process about a produced segment or a required company message, the setup allowed colleagues to decide for themselves whether and how they wanted to share a memory. WWE’s completed tribute video then brought together those individual perspectives.
Rhodes considered the full history of his relationship with Satterley
For Rhodes, speaking about Pac required him to look back through a professional connection that stretched over several major stages of both men’s careers. He explained that he and Satterley were not necessarily inseparable friends, but their paths crossed repeatedly at important moments. That made the loss land in a distinctive way.
“I thought long and hard about, ‘What’s my relationship there?’ Because we weren’t, you know, incredibly great friends,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes then described the moments that returned to him as he considered what Satterley had meant to his own story. One of those memories was SummerSlam at Barclays Center, where the two were part of the “Arrow” crossover match. In Rhodes’ recollection, Satterley was present at yet another landmark event, a familiar face during a period when both were carving out their places on a major WWE stage.
Rhodes also pointed to the beginning of AEW, another pivotal chapter in his career and in the broader industry. Satterley was one of the original wrestlers associated with the company’s launch, bringing an established international reputation and a sharp, uncompromising in-ring identity to the new promotion. For Rhodes, who was among the central figures in AEW’s earliest era, that was another defining professional moment in which Pac was part of the landscape.
Looking back through their messages added another layer to Rhodes’ reflection. He remembered how often he and Satterley worked together during WWE live events in the Stardust versus Neville period. A touring schedule can pair performers together night after night, creating a type of professional familiarity that may not always be obvious to fans watching television. Those bouts and the travel surrounding them become part of a wrestler’s lived history.
“I’m looking through our texts and you start to think, ‘Wow, we were married to each other at one point during live events when it was Stardust vs. Neville,’” Rhodes said.
The comment captures why tributes from wrestling peers can be so emotional even when they do not fit a simple label of friendship. Careers are shaped by opponents as much as partners. Wrestlers learn timing, confidence, character work and storytelling through repetition with the people across the ring from them. A rivalry that occupies a lengthy run of live events can leave a lasting impact, whether or not it is the biggest story shown on television.
Pac’s certainty stood out to Rhodes
Rhodes’ most striking observation centered on Satterley’s self-knowledge. He said he had never encountered another wrestler who knew himself as thoroughly as Pac did. Rhodes called that quality intimidating, particularly during periods when he was still working to understand both his own identity as a person and the character he wanted to present to an audience.
That assessment aligns with the image Pac projected throughout his career. Whether performing as Neville in WWE or Pac in AEW, Satterley brought an unmistakable intensity to his work. His presentation was not casual or interchangeable. He carried himself with a clear point of view, and his matches regularly reflected a blend of athletic innovation, aggression and deliberate character-driven detail.
For a fellow performer, that kind of clarity can be a powerful lesson. Wrestling characters can evolve through creative direction, changing promotions and audience reactions, but the most enduring acts generally retain a recognizable core. Rhodes indicated that Satterley’s certainty about who he was offered exactly that type of example.
Rhodes said he emerged from knowing Satterley as a better human being, wrestler and storyteller. It is a significant tribute because it moves beyond praise for Pac’s physical gifts. Satterley’s influence, in Rhodes’ telling, was rooted in the way he approached the entire craft: how he understood his role, how he carried himself and how clearly he communicated an identity whenever he performed.
A loss felt across company lines
The collective response to Pac’s passing has underlined how difficult it is to contain a wrestler’s legacy within one promotion. His final years were associated with AEW, where he remained an important competitor and had wrestled for the AEW National Championship at All Out 2026. Yet the reactions have also included WWE talent, former opponents and colleagues from earlier portions of his journey.
Rhodes is uniquely positioned to describe that overlap. His career alongside Satterley includes their WWE work, their connection during AEW’s formative period and the perspective that comes from moving through multiple versions of the wrestling industry. His memories are not confined to one famous match or one isolated storyline. Instead, they trace the way Pac appeared at consequential points in Rhodes’ career, from major stadium-level events to the demanding routine of untelevised live-event loops.
The WWE tribute footage and Rhodes’ comments also demonstrate the humanity behind a competitive industry. Promotions may compete for audiences, talent and headlines, but grief does not follow those boundaries. For wrestlers who knew Satterley, Pac was not solely an AEW star or a former WWE performer. He was Ben: a colleague, opponent, friend and influence.
As tributes continue, Rhodes’ reflection offers a clear picture of why Satterley’s absence has been felt so deeply. Pac’s accomplishments in the ring will remain a major part of his legacy, but so will the conviction he brought to every stage of his career. For Rhodes, that conviction helped make him a stronger performer and storyteller. For Owens, creating a place for others to speak ensured that those memories could be shared. Together, those gestures show the enduring respect Satterley commanded from those who knew him best.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.