Bill Pierce and his dog Pudgy. Photo courtesy of Bill Pierce.
July 7, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Astoria’s Shillelagh Tavern is set to host a variety show on July 12 in honor of US Army veteran and former WWF star Bill Pierce, who recently spent almost $10,000 so that his beloved dog Pudgy could get life-saving surgery.
“Pals for Pudgy,” a six-hour variety show hosted by musical artist Jess-O-Lantern, will take place from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 12, at Shillelagh Tavern, 47-22 30th Ave.
The event features performances from singer-songwriter Sean O’Shea, the New York band Borderline Mainstream, Gary Carmichael—the “Drag King of New York City”—and many more.
Admission is $20, but organizers said they will also accept larger donations at the entrance. Anyone who cannot make the show is also encouraged to donate to the event’s fundraising page.
Pierce, a 63-year-old veteran who performed in the WWF during the 1990s under the stage name Chris Michaels, said his family’s beloved 12-year-old lab mix Pudgy fell ill over Memorial Day Weekend, adding that X-rays later revealed that the dog had a tumor on his spleen.
He said vets informed him that they needed to remove the tumor in order to test for cancer but said the procedure would be costly. They gave him a choice of going through with the procedure or pay $50 to have Pudgy put down.
For Pierce, who rescued Pudgy when he was five years old from the North Shore Animal League on Long Island, there was never any choice to make.
At a cost of $7,000, vets removed the tumor from Pudgy’s spleen and found that it was benign, but Pudgy faces a long road to recovery, leading to more medical bills.
Pierce, who still works 12 hours a day in a blue-collar job, said he cannot take on the financial hit of Pudgy’s care alone, with bills climbing toward $10,000.
Pierce said he would have let the dog go if vets had informed him that the tumor was cancerous and there was no prospect of recovery but said he was not willing to give up on Pudgy easily, even if it meant taking on significant credit card debt.
“We were the third family to get him,” Pierce said. “He was hard to adopt when he was at North Shore and all the humans that have been in his life either just couldn’t handle him, or kept on giving him back. He deserved better than that.”
Photo courtesy of Bill Pierce.
Pierce hopes to bring Pudgy to the variety show on July 12 so he can meet some of the people who helped fund his life-saving care, although he conceded that the full six hours might be too long for the dog.
“It would be nice to say to folks, ‘here’s the guy’ (you helped save).”
Pierce said he is “eternally grateful” for the support he has received on the online fundraiser so far and spoke of how event booker Nick Katerelos arranged the upcoming variety show after hearing of Pudgy’s story.
Pierce and Katerelos first met at a wrestling event a number of years ago when Katerelos was starting out as a promoter and booker, and Pierce recalled helping him navigate the professional wrestling industry.
“Whatever I did to try to help a guy out who was really new to the wrestling business… I guess he just remembered me.”
If the event reaches its fundraising target, Pierce will donate any additional donations to the North Shore Animal League, stating that he holds the no-kill shelter close to his heart.
“I look at it as a blessing,” Pierce said. “It’s a place for animals to go where at least there’s some shred of hope.”
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