Doink the Clown is the name and persona originated by professional wrestler Matt
Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation and used there from 1992 to
1996, and sporadically thereafter. After Osborne left the WWF in late 1993, the
character was played by several wrestlers, both in the WWF and
elsewhere. Osborne continued to sporadically perform as Doink until six
months before his death in June 2013. History
= World Wrestling Federation= Former WWE producer Bruce Prichard said
in an interview on The Steve Austin Show that Michael Hegstrand had originally
conceived the idea of a miserable clown character.
After making appearances in late 1992 in the crowd and at ringside, playing
tricks on the fans and wrestlers, the Doink character made his in-ring debut
in the WWF in 1993, originally wrestling as a technically sound heel. Doink
played cruel jokes on both fans and wrestlers in order to amuse himself and
put them off guard. Some of his villainous pranks included tripping The
Big Boss Man with a tripwire, dumping water on Marty Jannetty and attacking
Crush with a loaded prosthetic arm. He clashed with Crush at WrestleMania IX, a
match which he won after the appearance of an identical Doink from underneath
the ring. Doink also briefly feuded with Randy Savage on an early edition of
Monday Night Raw, and Bret Hart, after substituting for Jerry Lawler, who faked
an injury, at SummerSlam in 1993. Doink then turned on Lawler on the
September 4 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge in Lawler's The King's Court
segment, making Burger King jokes to amuse the crowd and eventually emptied a
bucket of water over Lawler. Matt Osborne, the original man behind Doink,
was fired for re-occurring drug abuses, eventually leaving the gimmick to Ray
Liachelli. Now as a fan favorite and with a new midget sidekick Dink, Doink
was more of a comic relief character, but continued to pull pranks on other
wrestlers, mostly on heels like Lawler and Bobby Heenan. Doink and Dink also
battled with Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon in a feud that culminated at
WrestleMania X. Doink would later encounterJerry Lawler again in a match
at Survivor Series. In this match, Doink and Dink teamed with Wink and Pink to
meet Lawler's dwarf team of 'little kings' Queazy, Cheezy, and Sleazy.
Eventually, Doink soon became a jobber, regularly losing to wrestlers like Jeff
Jarrett, Hakushi, Waylon Mercy and, in his final televised match in September
1995, to Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Doink reemerged one last time in 1997 at the
Slammy Awards and was attacked by Stone Cold Steve Austin, amidst crowd chants
of "kill the clown". Doink is a playable character in
Acclaim's 1994 video game, WWF Raw, and Midway's WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade
Game. = Extreme Championship Wrestling=
Following his departure from the WWF, Osborne appeared in Extreme Championship
Wrestling for several matches as Doink in a blue and green clown suit, setting
up an angle where ECW champion Shane Douglas criticized Vince McMahon for
turning a talented wrestler like Borne into a comic relief character, and
claimed that he knew how to bring out Borne's full potential. Borne then made
a few appearances with Douglas as "himself", sporting his face
half-painted with the Doink makeup. His attitude insinuated that he had
developed borderline personality disorder from having been forced to
wrestle as a clown; after winning matches he would dress his opponent in
clown accessories to humiliate them. His ring name under this gimmick was "Borne
Again". = World Wrestling Entertainment=
Since 1996, Doink has appeared sporadically in WWE. Matt Osborne played
him in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. On December 10,
2007, he participated in a battle royal of 15 WWE alumni for the Raw 15th
anniversary special episode. Chris Jericho dressed as Doink when he
attacked William Regal on the March 26, 2001 Raw.
Played by Nick Dinsmore, he showed up in the A.P.A. Bar Room Brawl at Vengeance
in 2003. He was selected by Rhino to face Chris Benoit on the July 31, 2003
Smackdown!. Played by Steve Lombardi, he wrestled
Rob Conway on an October 2005 episode of Raw. On June 2, 2007, Doink, Eugene and
Kane defeated Umaga, Viscera and Kevin Thorn on the 34th edition of Saturday
Night's Main Event. On the July 12, 2010 Raw, Doink teamed with William Regal,
Primo and Zack Ryder to lose to Santino Marella, Goldust, Vladimir Kozlov and
The Great Khali, when he was pinned by Khali. On the July 2, 2012 Raw, he made
a surprise return and lost to Heath Slater. He reappeared on July 23,
alongside several other WWE alumni, to help Lita take down Slater on WWE Raw
1000, the one thousandth episode of Raw. = Independent circuit=
In early 2010, Osborne reinvented the Doink character to resemble Heath
Ledger's portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, nicknaming the incarnation
'Reborne Again'. The new character debuted on March 27 for ISPW in New
Jersey. On May 23, 2010, Doink the Clown, portrayed by Dusty Wolfe,
interfered against Skandor Akbar and his men Dr. Knuckles and Rommel. This caused
them to lose the Wrecking Ball Wrestling tag titles. In retaliation Akbar called
on the original Doink Matt Borne. Wolfe and Borne were scheduled to meet on Aug.
15, 2010, Wolfe would later no show the event. On August 8, 2010, Borne, as
Doink the Clown, won the Wrecking Ball Wrestling Championship. On May 30,2015,
at MAGNUM Pro's Over The Top event in Omaha Nebraska, Doink participated in an
Over The Top Battle Royal. Doink debuted on 7-28-15 and was portrayed by Dashing
Draven. Draven used doink to defeat king sabotage in his debut to win the scw
internet title in Ravenna Ohio and then used him to win the internet title 2
more times then won the scw world title twice defeating cain the monster and
Steve Jetson. Doink defeated internet champion mini xtreme to win his fourth
title. At scw heat: hallowicked birthday bash he will defend his title against
mini xtreme. This is mini xtremes birthday present from doink, this will
also be a halloween birthday street fight.
Incarnations = Wrestlers who used the Doink gimmick=
eight men have officially used the Doink gimmick. Six wrestlers have used the
costume for storyline purposes, at various times.
Matt Osborne – the original Doink, left WWF in December 1993, died June 28,
2013. Steve Keirn – wrestled as the "illusion"
Doink at WrestleMania IX and occasionally the "real" Doink at house
shows. Steve Lombardi – occasionally wrestled
as Doink at house shows and dresses as Doink for various WWE appearances.
Dusty Wolfe – wrestled as Doink in the NWA and other indie promotions.
John Maloof – wrestled as Doink full-time after Osborne left the WWF.
Ray Apollo – also wrestled as Doink in WWF after Osborne left.
Mike Maraldo - wrestled Scotty Flamingo as Doink on a Smoky Mountain Wrestling
card in November 1994. Nick Dinsmore – wrestled as Doink on the
July 31, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, losing to Chris Benoit.
= Wrestlers who used Doink's costume for storyline purposes=
Jeff Jarrett once dressed up as Doink to pull pranks on Dink.
Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers wrestled as "The Four Doinks" at the
1993 Survivor Series. Chris Jericho took on the persona of
Doink in order to perform an ambush on William Regal.
In wrestling Finishing moves
Stump Puller Whoopie Cushion
signature moves ddt
Entrance music "Clown" by Jim Johnston
"Nightmare Clown" by Jim Johnston Championships and accomplishments
Allied Powers Wrestling Federation APWF Television Championship
International Wrestling Association IWA United States Heavyweight
Championship SUPER CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING Ohio
SCW INTERNET CHAMPIONSHIP SCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
NWA Southwest NWA Southwest Television Championship
Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #26 of the top 500
singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992 Regional Championship Wrestling
RCW United States Tag Team Championship - with Jay Love
Wrecking Ball Wrestling WBW Heavyweight Championship
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards Most Embarrassing Wrestler
Worst Feud of the Year vs. Jerry Lawler Worst Worked Match of the Year with
Dink, Pink and Wink vs. Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy at Survivor
Series Notes
External links Doink at OWW
Doink's WWE Alumni Profile Doink at the Internet Movie Database
Tha O Show Episode 157 Matt Osborne/Doink The Clown Interview