On Sunday, September 6th, in front of a packed crowd at the O2 Ritz in Manchester, England, Malakai Black defeated Champion Cara Noir to become the new PROGRESS World Champion! The moment was bittersweet for Black. Due to the time difference between the US and the UK, Black just found out shortly before the event started that his friend Andy Williams (a.k.a. The Butcher) had passed away.

After Black’s victory, he took the mic and addressed the crowd. Black’s wife, Xelina (a.k.a. Zelina Vega in WWE), joined him in the ring, and both were visibly upset. Black spoke about just finding out about The Butcher an hour before the show started. He paid tribute to Williams and asked the crowd not to celebrate his victory, but instead to celebrate and give a standing ovation to one of his best friends, The Butcher, one last time. The crowd erupted in applause as they gave a standing ovation and chanted “Butcher!”

Malakai Black and The Butcher spent over three years in All Elite Wrestling together. They were good friends behind the scenes, even though their characters were never directly involved in the same feuds or storylines on camera. The two remained close friends even after both leaving the company, up until The Butcher’s untimely passing. RIP The Butcher.

It was a special, emotional night of wrestling as PROGRESS Wrestling kicked off its Odyssey Tour over the past three days, beginning on Friday, September 4th, and culminating on Sunday, September 6th. Check out the results from PROGRESS Wrestling’s Odyssey Tour Tag 3:

1.) Donovan Dijak def. Charles Crowley

2.) Lio Rush def. Gene Munny

3.) PROGRESS Wrestling Atlas Championship Match: Tommy Tanner (c) def. Mark Coffey to retain championship

4.) Kay Lee Ray def. Nikki Storm

5.) Sha Samuels def. Man Like DeReiss

6.) Xelina def. Myla Grace

7.) Scott Oberman & Nathan Black def. The Traitors’ Simon Miller & Farraz

8.) PROGRESS Men’s World Championship Match: Malakai Black def. Cara Noir (c) to become the new PROGRESS World Champion