La Zona Muerta

Obviously it was already going to be an emotional show, AEW Dynamite celebrating the career of the stalwart second banana Rebel (not Reba) and her struggles against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gerhig’s disease)…

…but then Andy Williams, the Butcher (of Butcher and Blade infamy) only went and passed away on Sunday at the far, far too young age of forty eight. It’s sad when most any wrestler passes, but the circumstances here were particularly grim; he collapsed in ring at the final show of the ENJOY! Wrestling promotion out of Pennsylvania. His tag team partner, the Blade, was involved in trying to help his partner and friend as the show had to be stopped in order to get Williams medical assistance. My heart is absolutely crushed for Blade and the attendees at the show; seeing someone in that state is a difficult cross to bear. While Butcher was no longer part of AEW as of this summer, he was still a HUGE part of the early days, going back into the pandemic, him and the Blade being a throwback, mercenary-type team that could slot into pretty much any program or role with minimum fuss.

Of course, this is AEW… so of course, the most cretinous, worst people you know instantly tried to make Williams’ death ABOUT AEW somehow. He hadn’t actually WRESTLED for AEW since early 2025, but why let FACTS get in the way of fake outrage? How DARE these scumbags, this FILTH use the death of a good man as some sort of CUDGEL against the company that used to employ him?

Then, on the other side of the spectrum, you had the well meaning, grieving people who INSISTED that AEW make the already scheduled Rebel Heart show into a tribute for Williams… and obviously while AEW can, should and did have a tribute to the man… I think some people were expecting something along the Brody Lee or Jay Briscoe “Celebration of Life” episodes, which really wasn’t feasible or realistic (wet eyed editor Convoy here; they are indeed dedicating Saturday’s Collision to Big Butch). Or they want the Blade to work Moxley (geez, can’t that guy have a minute to grieve). Or they want a Butcher Memorial Tag Team Tournament. Or, or, or.

I can’t bag on those folks too much; they are grieving and want a way to express that grief with the fellow people who watch the show, but… I do chafe a bit when people say that AEW HAS TO do ‘x’. Butcher’s passing sucks, he was a part of the AEW extended family… but I don’t know that it’s reasonable to expect the show to not go on as it was meant to. I think the tribute they had for him was touching, and frankly, made me more than a bit misty-eyed.

Which brings us to the matter of Reba (not Rebel). Just a fantastic second banana and henchwoman in a period where AEW had both some of the best managers and valets (Don Callis, Stokely Hathaway, Prince Nana being among the best) and some NOT so great ones (human excrement like Vickie Guerrero being amongst the worst), a vital part of Britt Baker’s act, particularly during the pandemic days. Always funny, always making the most of her TV minutes. Like Andy Williams, a terrific human being out of the ring, a joy when on TV and someone else fated to leave us FAR too soon (her ALS diagnosis is terminal).

Why do the good die young?

AEW has suffered a lot of tragedy, more than it’s fair share in it’s young history. AEW is also more graceful about it than any North American wrestling company I have ever seen in thirty plus years of fandom, and I think that speaks VOLUMES about the people who run AEW and work there.

Obviously a dopey drawing by me is a very, very small way to show appreciation; donating to the ALS foundation the Rebel Heart show is connected to is probably a better way to help, but…

Two good human beings; not always easy to find in the world of pro graps

So, yeah. A bittersweet show, obviously. Rebel still has fantastic comedy timing, and, yes, still managed to make the most of her TV time. It’s difficult to articulate the sheer amount of courage Rebel possesses. What a selfless woman.

This is going to be a hard show to nitpick to death as I tend to every week… so I think I will refrain.

It’s Rebel, not Reba, dammit.