A couple days ago, not 24 hours after he tore the house down against Andrade at the All Out PPV, AEW announced that Benjamin Satterley, known in wrestling as “The Bastard” Pac, had passed away.
Pac was 40 years old and no cause of death has been announced. I will not be speculating. All that is known at the moment is he was found in his car and police have stated there were no signs foul play and the circumstances were not suspicious. Whatever the cause the suddenness adds to the shock and the tragedy, and my thoughts are with his friends and family.
Satterly, know as Adrian Neville (and later just Neville) in WWE and Pac on the indies and in AEW, debuted in 2004 and had an incredible 20+ year career.
I have no specific memory of a moment when Pac first showed up on my radar, but I know I was lucky enough to see him wrestle live on Dragon Gate USA shows a good 15 years ago. He was immediately impressive, and continued to do crisp, jaw dropping aerial wrestling moves throughout his career. He was easily one of my personal favorite wrestlers.
In addition to being quite possibly the greatest high flyer in the game, as referenced in his “The Man Gravity Forgot” nickname, Pac had a sometimes overlooked mastery of pretty much all other aspects of wrestling. His ground game and counter wrestling skills were exquisite. Everything he did was grounded in some sort of reality and his matches always felt like a fight. He was also an incredible straight man for opponents with lighter approaches, such as in his much lauded and fondly remembered matches with Orange Cassidy.
By all accounts the man beneath the gruff Bastard persona Pac portrayed as a member of AEW’s Death Riders faction was a much beloved member of every promotion he was a part of. I highly encourage anyone reading this to seek out some of the stories and praise his fellow wrestlers have been sharing over the last few days.
This week’s AEW Dynamite airing tomorrow 9/30/26 will be a tribute show in memory of Pac.
Rest in Peace Pac. We’ll miss you.
