Doink The Clown

[LuchaBoyWF]

Before you flame away and say it was a dumb gimmick that shouldve been done away with,hear me out

I remember one of the first series of matches i ever saw was the 3 part series between Mr.Perfect and Doink The Clown in Qualifying Matches for the 1993 King Of The Ring. From then on,i was hooked with Doink and wrestling in general,solely based on presentation and theatrics alone

I'd even go so far as to say the Face incarnation of the gimmick (played by Ray Apollo) was not bad either,even though it'd run it's course late 95 (with the "Kill the clown" chants at the Slammys).

Ever since then,it has been what i consider to be the most imitated character in wrestling history. It seems like almost every low-level indy promotion you go to,theres someone assuming the role,and often never doing it justice. I've seen guys like jobber to the stars Dusty Wolfe (from 99-01 on my first indy shows i went to) try to pull it off but he came off creepy and unusual

Years later i started ring announcing in my area,and got on "Rock N Roll" Buck Zumhoff's touring Rock N Roll Wrestling promotion one 100 degree day at a county fair. I learned Doink The Clown was going to work Buck and jokingly thought to myself "It better be damn accurate,or i'm walking". What came out was THE WORST INDY DOINK I HAVE EVER SEEN,some guy whose "gear" consisted of a Lucha mask,a 99 cent rainbow wig and brightly colored clothes

But there seemed to be a breath of fresh air as the original incarnation,Matt Borne came out of retirement/rehab and reprised the gimmick (or variations of it) on the indy scene.

From various "evil" Joker-like promos i saw pop up on YouTube,i thought there might be a revival of sorts for the Doink character. I also heard that in Doink's appearance in the RAW 15th Anniversary Battle Royal,Matt Borne was the one in the getup,and he looked to be in GREAT shape. I thought that'd be the perfect time for him to return

Then just recentley i saw this,and it made me embarrased to be a Doink fan


This was just embarrasing on every level,Borne in street clothes and a shell of his former self (not even in character trying to legit shoot with Duggan),and a slap in the face to the crowd who didnt even get their moneys worth

In summary,do you think theres an honest future for the Doink The Clown character anymore (even if it's not Borne who assumes the role)

PS: Does anyone else find it weird that Matt Borne NEVER talks about the gimmick being copied on the indy scene,or his opinion on it?

Pete

[Mr. Old School™]

Man, that "match" if you can even call it that, was brutal. Neither one really wanted to work with each other and that proved it. That was awful. It looks like Borne is missing quite a few teeth now too. Must've got them punched out or somethin'.

But yeah, to answer your question, no, I do not think there is an honest future for the Doink character because NOBODY can pull it off right. The ONLY guy that made the Doink character credible was Matt Borne.

The latest incarnation of Doink in the WWE played by Steve Lombardi has down right sucked. He's a horrible Doink, as are the dozens and dozens of bums who ripped it off on the indy circuit.

Man, the matches he had with Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart were classics. They still remain some of my most favorite matches ever.

To see Borne like that now, is really quite sad. However, his new Doink/Clown persona is supposed to resemble Heath Ledger's version of The Joker, which I can see a little bit, but isn't really working at all.

Here are a few more recent vids of Matt Borne as Doink/Joker.

[Oskanowski]

..No. I want Doink The Clown, not The Joker.

[K5]

doink at summerslam with lawler vs. bret for da win

[Deleted]

I never took to Doink.

even as a kid when Hasbros were THE figures I never had Doink and didnt want him.passed him up several times actually.ditto with the many figs he got in CS.

[twinn]

Dec 27, 2010 9:27:42 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

even as a kid when Hasbros were THE figures I never had Doink and didnt want him.passed him up several times actually

This was a smart decision... I got Doink for Christmas one year and the motherer wasn't out of the package 5 minutes before one of his ing fingers snapped off in the middle of his first match... Matt Borne as Doink was pretty incredible tho... I wish he would have held the IC title at least once....

[Deleted]

Dec 27, 2010 11:34:21 GMT -5 twinn said:

Dec 27, 2010 9:27:42 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

even as a kid when Hasbros were THE figures I never had Doink and didnt want him.passed him up several times actually

This was a smart decision... I got Doink for Christmas one year and the motherer wasn't out of the package 5 minutes before one of his ing fingers snapped off in the middle of his first match

really?wow thats good to know on my end.I was pretty physical with my Hasbros

[3Lephant (Naptown Icon)]

If you become a member at PWInsiderElite.com you can hear a ton of interviews, one of which is Matt Borne, who talks about the Doink character and where it was going, and his thoughts, etc like you were searching for

[tnafan17: The Total Package]

I liked him when I was a kid, now meehhh idk he just doesn't appeal to me like he did when I was younger.