Killswitch Engage used its appearance at Aftershock in Sacramento, California, to honor the late Andy Williams, known to wrestling fans as The Butcher and to heavy-music audiences for his long tenure with Every Time I Die.

During the band’s October 2 festival set, a graphic paying tribute to Williams was shown on stage. The moment followed news of Williams’ passing in September and brought a wrestling connection into focus at one of the year’s major heavy-music gatherings.

Williams’ career was deeply tied to the metalcore scene long before he became recognizable to a wider professional wrestling audience as The Butcher. He was a leading member of Every Time I Die, the influential band that was active from 1998 until 2022. Killswitch Engage and Every Time I Die also shared history on the road, having toured together multiple times throughout the 2000s.

A Tribute Rooted In A Longstanding Connection

The on-stage remembrance was a fitting acknowledgment of that shared history. Both acts were prominent names during an important era for metalcore, a period in which extensive touring built connections between bands and their audiences that extended well beyond individual releases or isolated festival appearances.

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For Killswitch Engage, displaying a tribute to Williams at Aftershock recognized a musician who had been part of that same touring world for years. For fans in attendance and those who followed the tribute afterward, it also served as a public moment of remembrance for a performer whose impact crossed different creative communities.

Williams had a distinct place in both. His work in music established him as a familiar figure to listeners who followed Every Time I Die from its earliest years through the end of the group’s run. Under the name The Butcher, he also became known in professional wrestling, carrying the intensity and identity associated with his music background into another performance environment.

The tribute did not need an elaborate production to convey its purpose. The appearance of Williams’ memorial graphic placed his image and legacy before a large festival audience, while also underscoring the personal nature of the loss for people who had shared stages, tours, scenes, and audiences with him.

Every Time I Die’s Lasting Place In Metalcore

Every Time I Die was active for nearly a quarter-century, from 1998 through 2022. Over that span, the group developed a committed following and became an enduring presence in heavy music. Williams’ role in the band was central to the identity it created over those years.

The band’s relationship with Killswitch Engage dated back to the 2000s, when both groups toured together on multiple occasions. That history provides important context for the Sacramento tribute. It was not simply a passing reference to an artist from the same broad genre; it was an acknowledgment of someone connected to Killswitch Engage through years of shared touring experience.

In the live-music world, touring relationships can create bonds that are difficult to measure from outside the venue. Artists spend long stretches traveling, performing, and working alongside one another in front of audiences that often overlap. Williams’ years with Every Time I Die made him part of that larger network, and Killswitch Engage’s decision to include him in its Aftershock presentation reflected the respect that connection carried.

Williams’ death has prompted remembrance from people who knew his work through several different lenses. Some knew him first through Every Time I Die. Others knew him from wrestling as The Butcher. Still others followed the music he continued to make after Every Time I Die concluded.

Music Continued With Atomic Rule

Following the end of Every Time I Die in 2022, Williams formed Atomic Rule in 2023. The band went on to release projects in 2025 and 2026, continuing Williams’ creative output in heavy music after the previous chapter of his career had closed.

That later work is part of the complete picture of Williams’ legacy. His contribution was not confined to one band, one era, or one audience. He remained active in music, while his identity as The Butcher ensured that professional wrestling fans had their own connection to his work and presence.

That crossover is one reason the Killswitch Engage tribute resonates beyond the festival circuit. Wrestling and heavy music have long shared an audience drawn to powerful live presentation, distinctive personalities, and emotional intensity. Williams occupied a rare position within that overlap, with a career that allowed him to be recognized in both spaces.

For wrestling followers, The Butcher was more than a nickname attached to a musician. It was the persona through which Williams brought a familiar presence into the ring. For music fans, he remained closely associated with Every Time I Die and, later, Atomic Rule. The tribute at Aftershock spoke to all of those audiences at once.

A Memorial Bench Planned In New York

Remembrance of Williams is also taking a lasting form away from the stage. At the end of September, it was revealed that he will receive a memorial bench in New York. The project gives friends, fans, and members of the communities connected to Williams a permanent place through which to honor him.

Memorials such as this can carry special significance for an artist whose work was rooted in connection. Concerts are temporary by nature: a band arrives, performs, and moves on to the next date. A bench, by contrast, is designed to remain. It creates an ongoing marker for a person whose influence was felt across music and wrestling over many years.

The Killswitch Engage graphic and the planned New York memorial bench represent different forms of tribute, but they are connected by the same purpose. One placed Williams’ memory before a festival crowd in Sacramento. The other will offer a dedicated space for reflection long after the immediate period of mourning has passed.

Remembering The Butcher

The news of Williams’ passing in September has been felt across communities that may not always be discussed together. The response at Aftershock demonstrated how naturally those worlds can converge when remembering someone who belonged to both.

Killswitch Engage’s gesture was a concise but meaningful recognition of a peer from the touring circuit and a respected figure in heavy music. It also gave wrestling fans another moment to see The Butcher remembered in public, in a setting shaped by the musical world that was so important to him.

Williams’ career included a lengthy run with Every Time I Die, continued work with Atomic Rule, and a professional wrestling identity that introduced him to another passionate audience. The October 2 tribute in Sacramento added another chapter to the public remembrances following his death: a visual salute from a band with its own longstanding connection to his musical journey.

As plans for the New York memorial bench move forward, the Aftershock moment stands as a reminder that Williams’ influence reached far beyond any single stage or ring. He is being remembered as Andy Williams, as a key figure in Every Time I Die, as a member of Atomic Rule, and as The Butcher—a name familiar to professional wrestling fans who shared in the many sides of his career.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.