WWE Hall of Famer Bushwhacker Luke has opened up in heartbreaking detail about the final days of his long-time tag team partner and best friend, Butch Miller, who passed away in April 2023. Speaking on Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, Luke recounted the tragic events that unfolded during WrestleMania 39 weekend in Los Angeles.
Butch had flown in from his home in New Zealand to reunite with Luke for several fan events. According to Luke, everything changed just one day after Butch arrived.
“He came up two days early,” Luke explained. “The next morning, I went to wake him up, there was no noise. Kept banging on the door. In the end, we got security, and they opened the door up. He’s lying there for breath.”
Butch was rushed to the hospital, where his condition quickly deteriorated. Luke later learned that his partner had temporarily stopped breathing in the ambulance.
“They brought him back,” he said. “They put him to sleep, you know, tranquilized him so to keep all of his organs in good shape… And then they told me that if he lives, he’d be on machines for the rest of his life. Well, that hit me hard… because he always said to me, ‘I never want to be on a machine.’”
Luke had the devastating task of calling Butch’s wife and daughters back in New Zealand to say their goodbyes via Zoom.
“They all spoke to him… his wife and his two daughters,” Luke recalled. “And then eight o’clock, the Zoom went dead, and he lived for an hour and 10 minutes. I sat there for an hour and 10 minutes, took his last breath. Boy, that was the hardest part of my life, seeing him take his last breath.”
The legendary tag team known as The Bushwhackers had been together since 1966, and Luke reflected on just how deep their bond ran.
“All of his marriages gathered together, I was still with him longer than all that,” he said with emotion.
Since Butch’s passing, Luke has continued to honor his partner’s memory by appearing at wrestling conventions across the globe, sharing stories from their iconic careers and keeping their legacy alive for fans of all generations.
