Doink the Clown
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| Doink the Clown | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Doink the Clown European Doink Le Clown |
| Billed height | 6' 1" (185 cm.) |
| Billed weight | 243 lbs.(110 kg.) |
| Born | Parts Unknown |
| Debut | 1992 |
Doink the Clown is a gimmick used by several professional wrestlers since the 1990s. The Doink character originally wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation. Doink now can be found occasionally on the independent wrestling circuit in the United States and on WWE programming.
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The Doink wrestling character is that of a circus clown. He wrestles in a clown costume, complete with face paint, makeup, and bright green hair. His diminutive sidekick, Dink the Clown (who was approximately four feet tall) wore a similar clown suit.
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 WWE in 1993,[1] and he wrestled as both a villain and fan favorite. As a villain, Doink played cruel jokes on both fans and wrestlers in order to amuse himself and put them off guard.[1] 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 prosthetic arm. As a villain, he clashed with Crush at WrestleMania IX, 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 Bobby Heenan, becoming a babyface as a result.[1] 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 dwarf 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.[1] As a fan favorite, Doink was more of a comic relief character, but continued to pull pranks on other wrestlers, mostly villains such as Lawler and Bobby Heenan these pranks where less cruel. Doink and Dink also battled with Bam Bam Bigelow and his 'main squeeze' Luna Vachon in a feud that culminated at WrestleMania X.[1]
Some wrestling purists criticized the WWE for creating the Doink character, claiming that it pandered to what they saw as the "one-ring circus" atmosphere the WWE was promoting at the time; others thought that Doink was appropriate given professional wrestling's carny origins.[citation needed] Others preferred the villainous version, saying that Matt Borne made the gimmick work, but once he became a fan favorite, his character was neutered. 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'.
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. He also fought Rob Conway on an October 2005 episode of Raw.[2] On the June 2, 2007 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Brooklyn Brawler portrayed Doink for the WWE as he has did in several house shows over the past few years. he 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.[3]
A number of men have used the Doink gimmick in the WWE. The first (and best-known) Doink was Matt Borne. The second was Steve Keirn who played Doink at Wrestlemania IX, and occasionally played Doink at house shows. He was succeeded by Dusty Wolfe and Steve Lombardi, who played the character temporarily after Borne left the company until Ray Apollo was brought in as the permanent replacement. At one point it was shown that Chris Jericho took on the persona of "Doink The Clown" in order to ambush an opponent. When he faced Chris Benoit, Doink was played by Nick Dinsmore. Jeff Jarrett would dress up as Doink to pull pranks on Dink. Men on a Mission and The Bushwhackers once dressed up as The Four Doinks.
- Finishing moves
- Stump Puller (Inverted Boston crab)
- Whoopie Cushion (Seated senton)
- Theme music
- Doink's entrance music originally consisted of the famous circus song "Entry of the Gladiators", which segued into menacing music, which contained maniacal laughing like that of an evil clown. This song is called "Nightmare Clown".
- After the character became a fan favorite, the music changed to a full version of "Entry."
- 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
Of the men that portrayed Doink: Matt Bourne held a few regional titles over the years. Steve Keirn won titles in the Florida and Tennessee Regions primarily. Keirn's biggest run came as partner to Stan Lane as the Fabulous Ones. Keirn also wrestled as "Skinner" in the WWE. Steve Lombardi's biggest push occured as the Brooklyn Brawler whom he still protrays occasionally. None of these men ever won a WWE title as Doink or under any another allias.
- Accomplishments
Inducted George Steele in the WWE Hall of Fame
- ^ a b c d e "Doink's Alumni Profile". WWE. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
- ^ Brad Dykens. "Brooklyn Brawler's OWW Profile". OWW. Retrieved on 2008-12-03.
- ^ Jim Ross. "Jim Ross' Blog". Jim Ross. Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
