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Back in 2011, CM Punk cut one of the most infamous promos of all time, shocking WWE fans and the professional wrestling world as a whole. Ahead of his contract ending, Punk was given the chance to speak his mind in a worked shoot promo which has been called “The Pipe Bomb”, and it was truly stirring content. One unique detail that fans may have noticed is that Punk wore a “Stone Cold” Steve Austin shirt for this promo, leading some people to wonder why exactly this was the case. Punk has later revealed the reasoning, and it may not be why you think.
CM Punk Could Have Been Sending A Message With Steve Austin’s Shirt
CM Punk’s “Pipe Bomb” promo is one of the most definitive moments of his entire career, with it propelling him to permanent main event status in WWE. It was a moment which cemented his spot amongst other legends too, as a true star-making speech. Punk aired his grievances about WWE both behind the scenes and in the ring, from the pushes of stars such The Rock and John Cena, his own mistreatment, to even trying to dish dirt on Vince McMahon, among other things.
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During all this, Punk was wearing a piece of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s merchandise. Given that Austin was the biggest anti-authority figure in WWE history, going head-to-head with the dictatorial Mr. McMahon back during the Attitude Era, it would have made sense for Punk to have worn this as a piece of subliminal messaging regarding his anti-authority stance. Wearing a shirt of McMahon’s most bitter enemy whilst insulting his company seems like a great nod to perhaps the influences behind his words and attitude.
There was also lots of talk of a CM Punk vs Steve Austin dream match at one point, so there could have also been a chance that Punk wore the shirt to try and push his agenda towards trying to make that dream a reality. In actual fact though, the reasoning behind Punk wearing the shirt wasn’t something that was premeditated beforehand as some sort of easter egg (though it did end up being one anyway, due to those aforementioned reasons), with it instead just being a matter of happenstance.
CM Punk Needed A Shirt To Wear For The Pipe Bomb
CM Punk revealed why he wore the Austin shirt during an interview with Dropping Character podcast (h/t Post Wrestling), explaining, “I was wearing a Stone Cold shirt because I was leaving and the company stopped producing CM Punk shirts. When I went to the crate to grab a shirt, they did not have any and I grabbed the first shirt I saw and I went, ‘Steve, cool’, put it on. I grabbed it because it was a shirt that was there and they didn’t have any CM Punk shirts, you know?”
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This further confirms the fact that the plan was indeed initially for Punk to fully leave WWE following the expiration of his contract, so much so that WWE had halted the production on his merchandise. Even though it would have been nice to imagine that Punk did all this intentionally, it was in fact due to him needing to find a top to wear. He did say that he was happy with the choice though. “I’ve been very good in my career at dropping little easter eggs here and there and stuff like that so I was just like, ‘This is gonna be great. This is gonna be a thing that people latch onto and they’re gonna be like what the f*ck?’ You know, and it was.” It certainly added to the segment when all was said and done, with Punk in Austin’s shirt remaining a truly iconic image in WWE history.
