Benjamin 'PAC' Satterley Passes Away At 40 Years Old (AEW News)

The wrestling world reacts to the tragic news of PAC's passing.

by Andrew Pollard
AEW All Out 2026 PAC
AEW

The pro wrestling world is in shock at the tragic news that Benjamin Satterley, better known to fans as PAC, has passed away at the age of just 40.

AEW announced this awful news late last night, with PAC having passed away on Sunday.

A truly generational, game-changing talent who would influence and help shape the career of so many others, Satterley began working for backyard promotions in the North East of England by the time he was 16, eventually taking on the PAC moniker in 2004 as he started to compete on the wider British independent scene and into Europe. There, he'd face upcoming UK names like Sheamus O'Shaunessy, Drew Galloway, Spud, Martin Stone, and Jody Fleisch, and battle international prospects like AJ Styles, Kevin Steen, El Generico, Tommy End, and Claudio Castagnoli

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2006 saw PAC make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and it was with PWG, Dragon Gate, and Dragon Gate USA where his star continued to rise, marking him out as one of the most innovative wrestlers on the planet. And so, in 2012, Satterley signed with WWE and landed in NXT as Adrian Neville, where he and Oliver Grey would become the inaugural NXT Tag Team Champions. After further Tag Team Title success with Corey Graves, Neville would branch out into the singles ranks and defeat Bo Dallas for the NXT Championship, ahead of moving to the WWE main roster in 2015, where he'd eventually lead the company's relaunched cruiserweight division as the King of the Cruiserweights, becoming a two-time Cruiserweight Champion.

The summer of 2018 saw Neville depart WWE, revert to the PAC moniker, and have a short spell back in Dragon Gate before becoming one of AEW's first signees when Tony Khan's promotion launched in early 2019. From a singles act to Death Triangle, to the Death Riders, and plenty, plenty more, PAC became a pivotal part of AEW across the next seven years, always delivering excellent in-ring performances and evolving his character as the Bastard, being the first-ever AEW All-Atlantic Champion and winning the AEW Trios Championships twice. As had been the case throughout the years, the Geordie could forever be relied upon to steal the show on any given night, and he was most recently in action as of this past Saturday, where he lost to AEW National Champion Andrade el Idolo.

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As the wrestling world reacts to this utterly tragic news, here are some of the tributes to an exceptional professional wrestler and, more importantly, somebody who, from those who knew him, was an exceptional human being.

From all of us here at WhatCulture Wrestling, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Benjamin Satterley. May he rest well.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.