8 Wrestling Gimmicks That Were Much Darker Outside WWE
5. Doink
The original incarnation of WWE's Doink expertly and rather horrifically traded on the fears of coulrophobes everywhere. The evil clown was every bit the squared circle Pennywise, from his disarming grin and carnival of the damned theme music, to his stuttering movements and vicious attacks on that idiot Crush.
He was seriously creepy, but probably just a bit too subtle for WWE's early-'90s demographic. After the man under the pancake, Matt Borne, was fired for his recurrent drug issues, Doink was re-tweaked into a fun-loving prankster. With minuscule doppelganger Dink in tow and Ray Apollo playing the role, Doink became horrible for a whole new reason.
Borne reprised the part in ECW, only this time, he wasn't clowning around. Initially, Doink appeared as WWE fans remembered, before Shane Douglas took him under his wing. The Franchise lambasted Vince McMahon for turning wrestlers as gifted as Borne into ridiculous cartoon characters, and promised he could unlock the former Big Josh's true potential.
He only managed half a job. Borne soon began wrestling half as Doink, half as himself, his actions symptomatic of a borderline personality disorder. Wonderfully, he also started referring to himself as 'Borne Again'. And not a miniature tricycle in sight.