10 Gimmicks WWE Needs To Bring Back In 2017 (And Who Should Use Them)
2. The Evil Clown
Doink the Clown is another early 90s gimmick that is maligned by some and adored by others, the majority of whom saw the gimmick as a wrestling clown and nothing else. A clown that wrestles? How dumb! Clowns are stupid! He looks silly! Solid arguments on either side were difficult to find.
As a babyface Doink became somewhat one-dimensional, but the Evil Clown is one of the most underrated gimmicks in wrestling history. Fear of clowns is a very real thing, and whilst coulrophobia has only truly been a mainstream thing for the last 40 years the role of clowns and jesters on the edge of society is centuries old. They were supposed to hold a mirror up to people and show them their morally corrupt side, not make animals out of balloons.
The wrestling clown can always go further, and after being released by WWE Matt Borne reprised the character somewhat in ECW. Here he was half Borne half Doink, a man playing a character that had engulfed him somewhat. It was the story of Weary Willie, in a wrestling context, and it could have been brilliant.
A modern candidate for this role could be any number of yet-to-debut NXT talents, both male and female. Some may scoff, but Oney Lorcan could well benefit from something beyond 'good at wrestling and looks scrappy'.