This Week in Wrestling: Week 39 of 2026

Brian Damage

This Week in Wrestling: Week 39 of 2026

Remembering Benjamin Satterley AKA PAC

This past week was certainly a very sad one with the announcement that PAC aka Ben Satterley died suddenly while sitting in his rental car in the Chicago area. He had just worked the night prior for AEW’s All Out pay per view. Police said that there was no foul play or suspicious cause in his death. Granted, a 40 year old man in perhaps the best shape of any wrestler of his age or 20 years younger than him just simply passing away in a car is a bit suspicious to me…but I’m no expert. Apparently, an autopsy is being conducted, and the results may take weeks. I will not speculate on a cause of death. All I know, it is an extremely sad situation.

Satterley got his start in pro wrestling as a backyard wrestler in England. In 2004 at the age of 18, he was professionally trained at the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) Academy. Satterley chose the ring name of PAC… properly pronounced as “Pack” not “Pock.” It was a childhood name given to him by his father who was impressed by his son’s six pack abs at a young age. What made him stand out as an exceptional pro was his combination of being well versed in mat wrestling and breathtaking aerial maneuvers. 

PAC became a sensation on the UK independent wrestling scene winning several titles from places like 3CW, IPW and the IWF. As hot a commodity as PAC was in the United Kingdom, it was about to get even hotter when he traveled to Japan and debuted for the Dragon Gate promotion. His matches against Ricochet were legendary and really put him on a global map as a top star. As a top international attraction got the attention of WWE and in 2012, Satterley signed with the company as was assigned to their developmental brand NXT.

It was there where he chose the ring name of Adrian Neville. According to Satterley, he decided on the name as a homage to the lead singer Neville Staple of one of his favorite bands named ‘The Specials.’ He would win the NXT tag team titles with fellow Brit Oliver Grey and also with Corey Graves. He then defeated Bo Dallas in a ladder match to win the NXT title where he held the belt for 287 days. Wrestling as Adrian Neville, he helped shape and change the way NXT was viewed. It became much more than just a developmental brand and Satterley had a lot to do with that shift.

Adrian Neville was called up to the main roster in 2015 and was turned into a super hero type of character. Now known as ‘The Man that Gravity Forgot’ Neville had his first name Adrian dropped and wore a cape. According to Bruce Prichard, Neville became Vince McMahon’s latest wrestler to portray a version of his favorite childhood characters…Mighty Mouse. Others that filled that role were Battle Kat and the Blue Blazer. Neville won the cruiserweight championship two times ultimately losing the belt to Enzo Amore before Neville decided to quit the company. 

Satterley returned to using his name of PAC the proper Bastard and went back to Dragon Gate in Japan as a heel. He led a faction called R.E.D. Which stood for Real Extreme Diffusion. As he continued to dominate Dragon Gate, PAC joined the upstart All Elite Wrestling in 2019 as a founding father of sorts. He won the inaugural All-Atlantic Championship and the World Trios titles with Penta and Rey Fenix as The Death Triangle faction. He was the very first double champion in AEW history. Pac joined the Death Riders faction and challenged Andrade for the National title at AEW’s All Out show the day before his tragic passing.

The well respected William Regal gave PAC high praise just a few weeks before his death saying that PAC was “the best wrestler to come out of England since the ’80s.” His breathtaking aerial assaults like the Black Arrow and his absolute believability as someone who could destroy his opponent in a real fight added to his likeability as a human being behind the curtain make his loss even more sad. A true loss to the entire wrestling community. 

Photo Gallery

An Andy ‘The Butcher’ Williams statue/memorial will be built in New York.

The REAL Mega Powers!

Abby Road

Cool pic of Andy Kaufman applying a headlock on Gorilla Monsoon!

Ash By Elegance

Trish Stratus

Celeste Bonin

Tiffany Stratton

Nattie

Jenni Neidhart

Mickie James

Mina Shirakawa

Priscilla Kelly

Current pic of Kim Kanner aka Scott Steiner ‘Freak’ Shakira!

Video Gallery

Here’s a beer commercial (I think) featuring the great Masahiro Chono!