WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque has led tributes to the company’s International Production Manager Davey Coates following his death.
Coates died on Saturday at the age of 63. His son, Henry Coates, announced the passing on his father’s Facebook page. He posted a photograph of his father’s backstage equipment alongside a brief message.
He wanted this to be his final goodbye to you. See you on the next gig.
The accompanying image displayed a hard hat, a radio, a high-visibility vest, and backstage credentials. Text on the photograph read “Load in – 2nd June 1962” and “Load out – 14th March 2026,” denoting his dates of birth and death.
Levesque shared a message honoring the veteran staff member on X. He credited Coates with ensuring international tours and the NXT UK brand ran smoothly.
Learned of the sad news of Davey Coates passing. Davey was @WWE’s international touring manager and was largely responsible for making all international shows, large and small happen. He ensured our wrestling rings got to the most remote corners of the world, our backstage ran… pic.twitter.com/4lbTbVH8HE
— Triple H (@TripleH) March 14, 2026
William Regal posted:
I’m beyond deeply saddened to hear my close friend and colleague Davey Coates has passed. We’ve been on tour with WWE for 20+ years in over 20 countries. We shared the same interests in British sub cultures and music. We laughed harder than anyone has the right to.
We’ve shared our closest moments that we couldn’t tell anyone else. We both knew that we had charmed lives because of our work that we would never of had without it and both could have ended up going down a wrong path in our teens and later life. My deepest condolences to Henry and Davey’s friends and family. I’ll miss you forever.x
Raw General Manager Adam Pearce also posted a message to express his condolences.
“Godspeed, Davey Coates. Another absolute legend behind the scenes who tirelessly worked for decades to bring @wwe to the globe. I can’t say enough about his passion and dedication. I’m honored to have worked with him and shared countless laughs along the way. My heart goes out to his friends, family, and all touched by this loss. Rest well, sir.”
NXT referee Darryl Sharma thanked Coates for his mentorship over the years. Performers Brooks Jensen and Dave Mastiff also paid their respects online.
Coates operated out of London. An outside production company previously described him as the “coordinator of all WWE live events outside North America”. His Facebook profile noted that he attended Leyton County High School and the London College of Furniture.
