Tributes have poured in from across the wrestling world following the death of AEW star Pac.
AEW announced Pac’s passing on Sunday night, remembering the Newcastle upon Tyne native for a career that began in 2004 and took him around the world. The company praised Pac for captivating audiences with his high-flying style and in-ring ability, while offering condolences to his family, friends and fans. Swerve Strickland was among the first AEW stars to react to the news. Sharing the company’s announcement, Strickland appeared at a loss for words.
“I cant man….”
Matt Hardy also expressed shock and sent his condolences to those closest to Pac.
“Shocked & stunned about the sudden death of Pac. My thoughts & prayers go out to his family, friends and fans. RIP brother”
Britt Baker and Abadon both responded to AEW’s announcement with broken-heart emojis. Former WWE star CJ Perry was another to express her disbelief following the announcement.
“I’m in complete shock”
Shane Helms described the news as heartbreaking while offering his support to Pac’s family, friends and colleagues in AEW.
“Absolutely heartbreaking. My heart goes out to his family, friends and all of AEW. 🙏🏻✝️❤️”
Parker Boudreaux shared a brief tribute while reminding his followers to appreciate each day.
“RIP PAC 💔 everyday is a blessing”
Emily Jaye also struggled to put her reaction into words after learning of Pac’s death.
“truly at a loss of words. this is heartbreaking”
Joseph Sawyer, formerly known as Joe Gacy in WWE, shared a similarly brief message.
“No words”
“Pac ❤️”
Pac, real name Benjamin Satterley, had been part of AEW since the company’s inaugural year in 2019 and remained a prominent member of its roster throughout his run.
My Experience With Pac
Every wrestling death is tough to swallow as a lifelong fan, but this one in particular hits close to home. As a former North East England-based wrestler myself, Pac is a legendary figure in our scene because of the level of stardom he achieved for someone hailing from Newcastle. I’m not going to pretend I was best friends with him or anything like that, since he’d already made it big in Japan and America before I even broke into the business, but I do have one story I’d like to share.
In 2018, not long after Pac left WWE, returned to the UK and was living back in Newcastle, a friend of mine, who knew Pac from back in the day before he became a massive star, texted me and said that Pac needed a driver for a Rev Pro show. It was about a 4-hour drive from Newcastle, and we’d have to make the trip back the same day, so it was an 8-hour round trip, and it would just be him and me in the car. I remember being so nervous because this was the biggest star I’d ever be spending such a long one-on-one time with in my career, and I didn’t know how he would be, whether he’d want to just be quiet the whole time, or if he wouldn’t like me for some reason.
Well, I didn’t have to worry about a thing; Pac was such a lovely person it was like we’d known each other for years, we talked about growing up in the North East, the wrestling scene back then and what it had become, he gave me loads of advice, and we even had banter between each other as he is a Geordie and I’m a Mackem (for those of you that have no clue what any of that means, it means he is from Newcastle and I’m from Sunderland, and there’s a big football rivalry between the two cities).
But what solidified it for me that Pac was just such a wonderful human being is that a few months later, we were both working a show in Newcastle, and I fully expected him to not remember who I was, because he will have been driven by countless people and spent time with so many different low-level wrestlers that I didn’t think there was any chance he’d remember me. But he did; I went to shake his hand, expecting a quick “hello” and off I’d go. But when I went over, he gave me a big smile and said, “How’s it going, mate?” We chatted for about 10-15 minutes; he asked how I was doing, I asked the same, and then we went on with our days.
We didn’t stay in touch or anything like that after he went to AEW the following year, and I only saw him at a handful of shows before that, but we’d always have a little chat whenever I did see him on a show, and although I haven’t seen him in at least 5-6 years, I felt a heaviness in my heart when I heard the news late last night about his untimely passing. RIP Pac; it was a pleasure to have known you.
