Benjamin Satterley, known to wrestling fans around the world as Pac, died last month of bronchial asthma, the Cook County, Illinois, medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday.
The circumstances of death were natural, the office said.
Satterley, 40, died on September 27, just one day after wrestling on All Elite Wrestling’s “All Out” pay-per-view. His death sent waves of shock and grief across the world of professional wrestling.
The New York Post was the first to give the cause of death.
He was found in Des Plaines, about 2 miles north of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the medical examiner’s office said at the time.
Satterley grew up in the British independent system before making the jump to Japan and the United States. Originally from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, he became a highly influential figure known for both his hard-hitting style and his breathtaking aerial abilities.
He went on to achieve worldwide fame wrestling for some of the biggest promotions in the world, including AEW, World Wrestling Entertainment (where he went under Adrian Neville), New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.
Satterley adopted the nickname “The Bastard” in AEW and captivated fans and contemporaries with the speed, grace, precision and power with which he moved in the ring. On the microphone, his promos conveyed a pragmatic intensity that also captivated viewers.
In an era where the fourth wall between fan and wrestler had long broken down, Satterley rarely broke character. Still, his death highlighted the humility and kindness behind the persona of “The Bastard.”
“He was so modest about his fascination,” Marina Shafir, a member of the Death Riders stable that Satterley was a part of, said on an independent broadcast hours after his death.
“I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t share time and space with this man,” she said.
Days after his death, AEW turned its weekly show “Dynamite” into a moving tribute to its fallen star, dubbed “The Man Gravity Forgot.”
“While he will always remain one of the greatest wrestlers the UK has ever produced, we were so pleased to see so many wonderful tributes that recognized who Ben was as a person,” the Satterley family said in a statement read during the show. “He embodied what it meant to be an honest human being, an honorable man with principles, who loved his family and his son, Wolfie, a sausage dog.”
On Instagram, his wife, Natalie, thanked Satterley “for our beautiful life.”
“We will do our best to get through this nightmare and take care of each other because I know that’s what you would want,” she wrote, “but we will miss you every minute, every hour, every day.”
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