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For nearly two decades, he seemed to laugh at the laws of physics. Now the wrestling world is grappling with a loss that feels almost impossible to process. Benjamin Satterley, the English wrestling star known by his ring name Pac, has died at 40, according to All Elite Wrestling, in an announcement made Sunday night.

A Career Traced From Newcastle to the World

"A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Satterley began his wrestling career in 2004 and went on to perform for wrestling organizations all over the world, captivating fans with innovative high-flying moves and incredible in-ring ability," AEW said. The promotion added that Pac signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2019, held multiple AEW championships and competed in some of the most memorable matches in company history, extending condolences to his family, friends and fans.

From Neville to Pac

Before AEW, Satterley wrestled for WWE under the name Neville, earning a reputation for aerial attacks and an explosive style. Along the way he picked up nicknames like "King of the Cruiserweights" and "The Man That Gravity Forgot." The circumstances and cause of his death were not provided.

A Final Bell One Day Earlier

The announcement came just a day after Satterley wrestled at AEW's "All Out" pay-per-view event near Chicago, where he faced Andrade El Ídolo. A performer in the ring on Saturday, gone by Sunday night: a gap that makes the news land even harder.

A Résumé Full of Firsts

Satterley made history as the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion in 2022, a title later renamed the AEW International Championship. In 2024, he also won the AEW World Trios Championship alongside Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, in front of tens of thousands of fans at Wembley Stadium in his home country.

By the Numbers

Since joining AEW in 2019, Satterley wrestled in 147 matches, with 94 wins, 47 losses and four draws, according to the AEW website. He also competed for Japanese promotions Dragongate and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.

A Second Blow in Weeks

His death comes just a few weeks after another AEW wrestler, Andy Williams, known professionally as The Butcher, died after collapsing at an independent match in Pennsylvania, according to AEW. He was 48.

Tributes Pour In

Fellow AEW wrestler Nick Wayne, the youngest champion in AEW history, recalled a 2024 conversation with Satterley after watching him wrestle. Satterley's "conversations, advice, and positive thoughts going into things is something I always cherished," Wayne wrote on X. "PAC is one of the greatest innovators and Professional Wrestlers to ever do it."

"The Greatest Human Being"

Will Ospreay, another English AEW wrestler who faced Satterley many times in the ring, posted on X that Satterley was "the greatest export from our country. Also the greatest human being."

Promotions Around the Globe Respond

New Japan said it was "deeply saddened" by his passing and expressed sympathies to his friends and family. CMLL wrote on X that it will "remember his extraordinary professionalism, dedication, and respect in every appearance in Mexico."

AEW is a partner of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.

For a man nicknamed for defying gravity, the news is a jarring reminder that even the most weightless performers are human, and that the ring he lit up for 20 years will feel a little emptier without him.