All Elite Wrestling
Last Saturday (Aug. 5), CM Punk wore a new version of his “Best in the World” t-shirt to the ring for his Real AEW World title defense on Collision. Instead of the usual black & red flag of Chicago behind Punk’s taped fists logo, this one had a pink, white & light blue transgender flag. On the back, instead of “I’m a Collision Guy” it read “I’m a Collision Girl”.
TNT via Facebook
It wasn’t the first time Punk or another prominent member of Team AEW stood up for trans rights. It’s also not the first time Punk’s repped a cause on his clothing in defiance of public policy in that area (the Greenville, South Carolina crowd didn’t seem to have an issue with Punk’s shirt last weekend; he got the same 50/50, John Cena circa 2010 response he’s been getting a lot of places these days). But it’s always cool to see him or another prominent wrestler take a stand for people’s right to exist in the face of a lot of fear-mongering that ultimately threatens that right.
While the response certainly wasn’t universally positive, there were many calls for AEW to release Punk’s shirt. Yesterday, they did. And while it doesn’t appear to have the writing on the back — likely to ensure the shirt isn’t excluding trans guys or allies of any identity, and/or to save cost, it does come with a bonus. 100% of royalties on the shirt go to The Trevor Project, a non-profit dedicated to suicide prevention* and mental health services for LGBTQ youth (and that gets four out of four stars from Charity Navigator).
Check out @CMPunk‘s Best in the World Trans Pride shirt that just arrived at https://t.co/9hHlXpcSbp! 100% of the royalties will be donated to @TrevorProject! The shirt is only available until 8/22.#shopaew #aew #cmpunk