Less than 24 hours after his appearance at AEW All Out in Chicago, the wrestling world learned that: Benjamin Satterly, also known as All Elite Wrestling star Puck, has died unexpectedly at the age of 40. For AEW wrestler and announcer Jeff Jarrett, the news hit especially hard, considering he and the former Triple H World Champion had just shared a nice conversation backstage at the Sept. 26 pay-per-view.
in the last episode of My World PodcastJarrett recalled his immediate, shocked reaction after being informed of Puck’s death by his co-creator Conrad Thompson.
“I landed from Chicago (Sunday) morning. I went home and did a few things and then I went and talked to a group of men,” Jarrett said. “It was called ‘Night of the Carnivores.’ I was going to have some fun on the show about it. Beef brisket, tri-tip, all kinds of beef, but it was Carnivore Night at Center Point Church, and they put it on at Bugsby Ranch, which is a local place here. They asked me to be the guest speaker. So I took me back (Cody).. I had just finished saying goodbye, and as I turned the corner to go out the back door, I looked at my phone. Konrad will testify to that. We do a lot of texts, but of course we’ll start and talk about business, but when I saw your text, Konrad, I don’t know, disbelief. I guess I’m just like “What?” I couldn’t wrap my head around it.”
Pac’s cause of death is still pending, though a spokesman for Pac a week ago The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said it does not appear to be suspicious. The AEW star was found in a car in the parking lot of a restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois on Sunday, September 27th. He was later pronounced dead when authorities arrived at the scene just after 4pm local time.
Puck had the day before challenged Andrade El Idolo for the AEW National Championship at All Out. He also appeared in the main event of the PPV in an attempt to help his Death Riders stablemate John Moxley dethrone AEW World Champion Will Ospreay.
Jarrett remembers his last conversation with Pac
Backstage, Jarrett recalled that he and Puck also had a fun conversation about sports, which made The Last Outlaw laugh when they eventually broke up.
“Puck and I just happened to be at coffee and we met,” Jarrett said. “We just started talking. I had a friend who is involved with rugby in the UK, so we started talking rugby. Our encounter at the coffee fridge went from a two or three minute conversation to 10, 15 minutes. He is more of a football fan. It’s just kind hearted. All of a sudden, you’re into a real person, it’s not a job, he just had to get on with his game, but that’s my last memory.
After his conversation with Puck, Jarrett prepared to co-author All Out pre-show Alongside Renee Paquette, RJ City and Mick Foley. The segment featured three matches: Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata, The Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart & Sky Blue) vs. Mina Shirakawa & Taguhi Aminata, and an eight-man Tornado Tailgate brawl, the latter of which ended with Andrade vs. Pac minutes before the start of the AEW National show.
When Jarrett left the broadcast booth for Pac vs. In Andrade’s opening moments, he recalled thinking the two would set a high bar for the rest of All Out. Andrade went on to beat The B***ard after countering a Brutalizer submission into a roll.
Jarrett remembers Puck as a “student” of the wrestling business.
A week later, tributes and stories about PacJarrett’s likeness continues to flood social media and wrestling programming. Many of his friends and colleagues described him as a kind-hearted, humble individual and a quiet perfectionist. As Jarrett and others have also testified, Pac was also a passionate student of the wrestling business.
“Puck, yeah, he’s talented in the ring and we could talk about that for days, but man. I know this is going to be talked about a lot, but Puck loved this job, I want to say it the right way,” Jarrett said. “To be completely transparent, I love this business, I think, the right way and the wrong way. But Puck loved it, devoted himself to it, his student. You could say he is the whole business, not just the wrestling business, but the world. Again, too soon. God speed my man!
Last Wednesday, Team AEW got together to celebrate with Pac special AEW Dynamite tribute showheadlined by a 10-man tag match pitting The Death Riders and the returning Bryan Danielson against The Don Callis Family. Will Ospreay and Ricochet, two of his biggest rivals, also faced off, with Ospreay notably handing out the Black Arrow to honor him.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “My World” with ah/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.