10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Doink The Clown

3. “I Think Your Dad’s Dead”

Dark Side Of The Ring Doink The Clown Matt Borne
VICE

If you think everything detailed thus far is depressing, then you ain't seen nothing yet.

Michelle sent a text saying, "I think you're dad's dead" to Tegan in late-June 2013. She'd spotted a story about Matt's death on TMZ, but they wanted to confirm. Borne had been living with a new girlfriend, a woman called Connie Cook (who had worked in wrestling herself) by that point.

Here's where things get really shocking. Officially, Matt passed away due to an accidental drug overdose, but Tegan thinks there was "foul play" involved, and definitively states: "I know Connie killed my dad". Varying reports from police and Connie herself clash during the final hours of Borne's life.

More of that in the next entry. Seeing stills of Tegan, Matthew and Michelle standing over Matt's coffin at the funeral is really grim, and Michelle's account of never being able to "take away their pain" is heartbreaking to witness.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.