CM Punk's New AEW Shirt A Seeming Homage To Wrestling Legend Rowdy Roddy Piper
CM Punk's new AEW shirt pays homage to both "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Punk's dog, Larry.
Ahead of Punk's in-ring return on "AEW Collision" this Saturday, AEW released a new "Rowdy Ringer" t-shirt that has a cartoon photo of Punk's dog named Larry — as evident by the dog missing its lower right incisor — as well as the Chicago flag colors. The shirt seemingly pays homage to a shirt that Piper used to wear, which featured a puma. Punk has publicized his adoration for Piper in the past as he hailed his Dog Collar match against MJF as a "love letter to Roddy Piper."
CM Punk's new shirt 🤌https://t.co/P5lbDB6lEI pic.twitter.com/l2cbi8J5gg
— Bill Pritchard (WrestleZone.com) (@bpritchard152) June 16, 2023
Like his owner, Larry the dog made headlines coming out of the All Out brawl last September. It was reported that when Punk's locker room door was "kicked in" by The Elite's camp, Larry was accidentally hit in the face and subsequently lost two teeth. Ace Steel's wife was reportedly looking after Larry in the locker room after he had gotten loose earlier in the night and ran out into the venue prior to the pay-per-view going live.
It remains to be seen if Larry will be in attendance for Punk's return on "Collision," or if the shirt is meant to keep him there in spirit and away from the backstage area going forward. As noted, Punk will make his first live appearance on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago as he teams with FTR to take on Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Samoa Joe. As of this writing, members of The Elite are not advertised or planned to appear on the premiere episode.