PAC had just wrestled at AEW All Out on Saturday night, and nothing about his performance suggested fans were watching one of his final appearances. By Sunday afternoon, the 40-year-old was found unresponsive inside a rental car in Illinois, leaving the wrestling world stunned by how quickly everything changed.
Now, a heartbreaking detail about where PAC may have been going that day has surfaced. During Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the possibility that PAC was headed to Andy Williams’ public memorial before he was found, with Meltzer saying people who knew PAC personally believed that may have been his destination.
The timing makes the story even tougher. Alvarez explained that word of PAC’s death actually began reaching people while Williams’ memorial was taking place, meaning those gathered to mourn Williams suddenly learned that another close friend was gone.
“The point is when the word got out that he had passed away, it was during Andy Williams memorial. So the people were finding about, they were finding out about it at the memorial service for Andy Williams.”
Meltzer then addressed whether PAC himself may have been trying to get to that memorial. He was careful not to claim it as confirmed, but said people who knew PAC believed that was what he may have been doing.
“Yeah, I don’t know this, but there were people who knew him that thought that that’s what he was doing.”
There is an important piece of context to that possibility. PAC had already attended an earlier memorial for Williams a couple of weeks before Sunday’s public gathering, so Meltzer made it clear he could not say for certain that PAC was headed to this particular service.
“Although he had gone there, this was—there had been an Andy Williams memorial service a couple of weeks ago and this was more of a public one and he had actually been to that one. So I don’t know that he was going to this one, but people told me that they thought he was.”
What was never in question was the bond between PAC and Williams. Meltzer said the two were very close, pointing to the emotional tribute PAC delivered after Williams’ death as evidence of just how much the friendship meant to him.
“He was very close with Andy Williams. And as you could tell from the, you know, from if you saw the Andy Williams tribute show, I mean, PAC, you know, there were a lot of very moving, you know, tributes and his was one of them. You know, I mean he, they were very, very close.”
PAC, whose real name was Benjamin Satterley, had competed against Andrade at AEW All Out on September 26, 2026 just one night earlier. He later returned during the main event between Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay, putting him in front of AEW fans only hours before his death.
The next afternoon, customers at a CAVA restaurant in Des Plaines spotted Satterley unresponsive inside a rental vehicle and called 911. Dispatch audio captured the grim uncertainty responders were dealing with as emergency crews were sent to the scene.
“This is going to be a slumper in a car. We cannot confirm breathing yet.”
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said Satterley was pronounced dead at 4:08 p.m. Sunday. An initial autopsy has been completed, but his cause of death remains pending additional testing, and officials have not announced what caused his death.
Authorities have also said there were no signs of foul play or trauma and that the death did not appear suspicious. The possibility that PAC was trying to make it to Andy Williams’ memorial adds another painful piece to an already devastating final day. He had already mourned Williams, attended an earlier memorial for his friend and delivered an emotional tribute to him — and now people close to PAC believe he may have been trying to honor Williams one more time before tragedy struck.
What do you make of the possibility that PAC was headed to Andy Williams’ memorial during his final hours? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
