Ganon Jones Jr. is stepping away from professional wrestling to put his daughter first following the death of Andy “The Butcher” Williams.
Jones competed in Williams’ final match at Enjoy Wrestling in Pennsylvania on September 5. Williams teamed with The Blade against Jones and Duke Davis, known as TME, before suffering a medical emergency. He died at the age of 48.
In an emotional Instagram statement, Jones explained that his daughter had been watching from the crowd. What began as an evening cheering for her father left her frightened and asking him to stop wrestling.
Jones said he had never imagined those circumstances would lead him to step away.
“I always told myself I would walk away from wrestling for two reasons: either my body no longer allows it, or I’m no longer having fun. My body feels fine, and I’ve been having the time of my life… yet here I am.
Saturday, September 5th, at Enjoy Wrestling was one of the worst nights of my life. Not an hour has gone by since then that I haven’t thought about Andy and his family. Thinking about the match and everything that transpired afterward just keeps replaying in my mind.
My daughter was there that night cheering me on, yelling, and having fun… until she wasn’t. The events from that night scared her more than anything I can remember. When I was finally able to look at my phone after everything that had happened, I had a text from my daughter that said, ‘I am not letting u do wrestling anymore. I am crying.
I guess I unlocked a third reason to step away from wrestling.
I cannot, in good conscience, leave the house to be The All Star when I have a little girl at home wondering if I’ll ever come back. She doesn’t deserve to have those thoughts, and I refuse to put her through that.
I hope this isn’t forever, because I don’t feel ‘ready’ to leave yet. Wrestling has given me some of the greatest memories of my life. It has given me friendships, experiences, and moments I’ll carry with me forever. It has allowed me to become The All Star, and I will always be grateful for every person who ever cheered for me, believed in me, shared a locker room with me, or simply gave me a reason to keep going,” he explained.
Jones has left the door open to returning, but his immediate priority is being there for his daughter. He closed his statement by encouraging fans to continue supporting wrestling and remembering Williams.
“But right now, I need to be a Dad before I can be The All Star.
So, I’m stepping away.
Please keep supporting wrestling. Keep showing up. Keep cheering. Keep loving your people while they’re here.
We lost one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met, and I’ll never stop thinking about him.
This isn’t goodbye forever. At least I hope it isn’t.
Rest easy, Big Andy,” he wrote.
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