- Doink the Clown
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Doink the Clown 
Doink the ClownRing name(s) Doink the Clown[1]
The ClownBilled height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Billed weight 243 lb (110 kg) Billed from Parts Unknown Debut 1993 Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1995. Since Osborne's departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special appearances on WWE programming.
Contents
History
World Wrestling Federation
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 but mentally unstable villain. Doink played cruel jokes on both fans and wrestlers in order to amuse himself and put them off guard.[2] Some of his villainous pranks included tripping The Big Boss Man with a trip wire, 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 (played by Steve Keirn) 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 an "injured" Jerry Lawler, 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 hitting Lawler with a pie.[2] Matt Osborne, the original man behind Doink, was fired for re-occurring drug abuses, eventually leaving the gimmick (after bouncing through a few others) to Ray Apollo. Now as a fan favorite and with a new midget sidekick Dink, Doink encountered Lawler again the following year 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.[2] As a fan favorite, Doink was more of a comic relief character, but continued to pull pranks on other wrestlers (albeit more harmless and silly than outright cruel), mostly villains such as Lawler and Bobby Heenan. Doink and Dink also battled with Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon in a feud that culminated at WrestleMania X.[2] One of Doink's final appearances in his original run was at the Slammy Awards when he was attacked by Stone Cold Steve Austin amidst chants of "kill the clown".
He was also a playable character in WWF Raw released in 1994 by Acclaim Entertainment and WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game released in 1995 by Midway
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Following his departure from the WWF, Osborne appeared (as Matt Borne) in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) for a handful of 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
Doink made random appearances in the next decade. He competed in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. He showed up in the A.P.A. Bar Room Brawl at Vengeance in 2003. Doink was played by Nick Dinsmore and selected by Rhino to face Chris Benoit on July 31, 2003 edition of Smackdown!.[1] He also fought Rob Conway on an October 2005 episode of Raw.[3] On the June 2, 2007 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Doink (Dwaine Henderson)[citation needed] teamed up with Eugene and Kane to defeat Umaga, Viscera, and Kevin Thorn. On Raw XV, the 15th-anniversary Raw special on December 10, 2007, Doink participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal.
Doink has also made sporadic appearances since then. On the July 12, 2010 episode of Raw, Doink (Dwaine Henderson)[citation needed] teaming with William Regal, Primo, and Zack Ryder was defeated by the team of Santino Marella, Goldust, Vladimir Kozlov, and The Great Khali. The match was set up as a foil for guest host Florence Henderson who starred as Carol Brady in 70's sitcom The Brady Bunch. Doink was pinned by the Great Khali during the match and during the post-match celebration The Great Khali picked up Florence Henderson and proceeded to make out with her while Santino and Goldust danced to Khali's music.
Independent circuit
From 1996 to 1998, Doink the Clown made several appearances for Regional Championship Wrestling.
On Sept. 30, 2006 Doink appeared at Regional Championship Wrestling's Rumblemania 4 event in Florida.
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'.[4] The new character debuted on March 27 for ISPW in New Jersey.[4]
On May 23, 2010 Doink the Clown, portrayed by Dusty Wolfe, interfered against Skandar 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. They were scheduled to meet on Aug. 15th, 2010.[5] At that time Wolfe no showed the event to avoid the wrath of Borne.On August 8, 2010 The Original Doink The Clown-Matt Borne won the Wrecking Ball Wrestling Championship.[6]
IWA Wrestling
Doink has been to some IWA events in Ohio. He has been signing autographs and takes pictures with fans at events. He was spotted signing autographs outside a Frisch's Big Boy in Lima, Ohio.[citation needed]
Doink appeared at Warlney School on September 25, 2010 as part of a charity event.
Doink's recent show was in Clarksburg, Ohio on March 28, 2011 as a fundrasier event for Deerfield Township Fire and Rescue.
Portrayers
A number of men have used the Doink gimmick, as well as wrestlers using the face-paint as a disguise at various times.
The first Doink was Matt Osborne.[1] The second was Steve Keirn[1] who played the "illusion" Doink at Wrestlemania IX and occasionally played Doink at house shows. He was succeeded by Steve Lombardi and Dusty Wolfe, and John Maloof[1] all of whom played the character temporarily after Osborne left the company until Ray Apollo was brought in as the permanent replacement. then years later dewayne Henderson of the Alabama Wrestling fedration took the gimmick to new heights with Heat seekers inc.
Doink was played by Nick Dinsmore on the July 31, 2003 edition of Smackdown!.[1]
Characters portraying Doink as disguise
Jeff Jarrett once dressed up as Doink to pull pranks on Dink. Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers appeared as "The Four Doinks" to compete in a Survivor Series match. Chris Jericho also took on the persona of Doink in order to perform an ambush on William Regal and Goldust was also Doink at one time.
In wrestling
Doink with Psycho.
- Finishing moves
- Stump Puller (Inverted Single Leg Boston crab)
- Whoopie Cushion (Diving seated senton)[1]
- Signature moves
Championships and accomplishments
- Allied Powers Wrestling Federation
- APWF Television Championship (1 time)[7]
- International Wrestling Association
- IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
- NWA Southwest
- NWA Southwest Television Championship (1 time)[8]
- Regional Championship Wrestling
-
- RCW United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jay Love[7]
- Wrecking Ball Wrestling
- WBW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[6]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Most Embarrassing Wrestler (1994)
- Worst Feud of the Year (1994) vs. Jerry Lawler
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1994) with Dink, Pink and Wink vs. Jerry Lawler, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy at Survivor Series
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "Doink profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/d/doink.html. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ^ a b c d "Doink's Alumni Profile". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/wwealumni/doink/bio/. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
- ^ Brad Dykens. "Brooklyn Brawler's OWW Profile". OWW. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/b/brooklyn-brawler.html. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ a b Oliver, Greg (April 12, 2010). "Doink the Clown 'Reborne Again'". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/04/10/13537671.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ Martin, William (May 26, 2010). "Wrecking Ball Wrestling results from 5/23 featuring Skandar Akbar". Indy Wrestling News. http://www.indywrestlingnews.com/newswire/8341-wrecking-ball-wrestling-results-from-523-in-dallas-tx-featuring-skandar-akbar.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ a b Wrecking Ball Wrestling results from 8/8 in Dallas, TX featuring Matt Borne
- ^ a b c Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2000). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Southwest Television Championship title history". Puroresu Dojo. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/nwa-sw/nnwa-sw-tv.html. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1993". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50093.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
External links
Categories:- Professional wrestling gimmicks
- Fictional clowns
- Pranksters
- Finishing moves
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