1. “The ORIGINAL Doink” Matt Borne (Matthew Wade Osborne)
In the Summer of 1992 RoadWarrior Hawk had the Idea for the Gimmick of an Evil Clown.
Earlier that year the World Wrestling Federation signed WCW’s “Big Josh” Matt Borne, who had previously worked for them before (most famous for losing to Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 1) and eventually ended up with the Evil Clown Gimmick. Borne started to appear in the crowds in the Fall of 1992, frequently pulling tricks on Fans & Wrestlers ringside.
His first feud began when he attacked Crush with a fake prosthetic arm, and ended up beating him at WWF WrestleMania IX with the help of a second Doink (Steve Keirn). At the WWF SummerSlam 1993 PPV Doink The Clown wrestled Bret The Hitman Hart as a replacement for Jerry the King Lawler, who was out with a fake injury.
The original HEEL Gimmick of Doink the Clown was arguably one of the very best Gimmicks of the 90s, but unfortunately for whatever reason in September of 1993 someone behind the scenes of the World Wrestling Federation felt it would be a great idea to turn Matt Borne Babyface.
The Babyface Turn happened when he poured a pail of water all over Bobby Heenan during the September 13, 1993 episode of Monday Night RAW.
A few weeks later Matt Borne was fired from the World Wrestling Federation for his re-occurring drug abuse problems.
Following Borne’s departure, various Wrestlers ended up playing Doink The Clown, before Ray Apollo ended up with the Gimmick for the remaining of Doink The Clown’s WWF Run.
In 1994 Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) booked Matt Borne as Doink The Clown for ECW, where the Hardcore Wrestling Fans of the promotion hated the Gimmick and booed him out of the building.
After losing to 911 in the Tournament for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Matt Borne would associate himself with ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas, getting rid of the Doink The Clown Gimmick, turning him into “Borne Again”, a Gimmick where he would be half Clown, half Badass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_yYaSz35kM
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x355tli_doink-the-clown-borne-again-promo-ecw-1994_sport
Just a few weeks later, Matt Borne left ECW due to personal problems.
During the 15 Year Anniversary Episode of WWE Monday Night RAW (December 10, 2007) he portrayed Doink The Clown one final time, as a participant in the Old School Battle Royal, but got eliminated by Al Snow.
Part 1:
Part 2:
The Original Doink Matt Borne passed away on June 28, 2013 as result of an overdose of morphine and hydrocodone.
Check out the next page to see the list of other wrestlers who wrestled as Doink The Clown.
