 Osborne in 1999 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Wade Osborne[7] (1957-07-27)July 27, 1957[1] |
| Died | June 28, 2013(2013-06-28) (aged 55) Plano, Texas, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Accidentaldrug overdose |
| Family | Tony Borne (father) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Bubba Big Josh[1] Borne Again[2] Doink the Clown[3] Great Mustapha Matt Borne[4] Reborne Again[5] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 241 lb (109 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Ellwood City, Pennsylvania "Parts Unknown" (as Doink the Clown)[6] "The Northwoods" (as Big Josh) |
| Trained by | Tony Borne[1] |
| Debut | December 1978[1] |
Matthew Wade Osborne (July 27, 1957 – June 28, 2013), known professionally asMatt Borne, was an Americanprofessional wrestler. Osborne was a second generation wrestler, the son ofTony Borne, and is best known as being the first wrestler to portray thecharacter ofDoink the Clown.[8]
Under the ring name Matt Borne, Osborne debuted in December 1978.[1] He wrestled for variousNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories, most prominently forPacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW), where he was their heavyweight and four-time tag champion.[8][4] Borne also would regularly referee matches while in Portland as that territory had only one primary referee,Sandy Barr, and wrestlers would fill in as a referee when they weren't working a match. InMid Atlantic Championship Wrestling on June 6, 1980, he won his first championship, also the first of two tag titles he would hold withBuzz Sawyer. InMid-South Wrestling, he allied withTed DiBiase andJim Duggan as a member of The Rat Pack, aheelstable, and won their tag title with DiBiase.[1][9]
Borne made hisWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut on March 2, 1985, wrestlingRick McGraw to a time-limit draw.[10] He suffered his first recorded loss on March 8 toDavid Sammartino.[10] He was primarily ajobber, but occasionally defeated other jobbers athouse shows. He made his televised debut for the WWF on the March 23 edition ofAll Star Wrestling, teaming with Frank Marconi in a losing effort againstWWF Tag Team ChampionsMike Rotundo andBarry Windham.[10] Borne's most notable match during this run was a loss toRicky "The Dragon" Steamboat at the inauguralWrestleManiapay-per-view inMadison Square Garden on March 31.[11] He left the WWF following a loss toGeorge Wells on April 29, 1986 due to drug issues.[12][9]
In May 1986, Borne joinedWorld Class Championship Wrestling. That September, he reformed histag team withBuzz Sawyer under the management ofPercival Pringle III to win a one-day tournament to crown newWorld Tag Team Champions.[13] Borne and Sawyer feuded with fellow Pringle protegeDingo Warrior after falling out with him during asix-man tag team match, with Warrior turning babyface as a direct result of the incident.[14]
In 1989, World Class merged with theUnited States Wrestling Association (USWA). For the next two years, Borne won theUSWA World Tag Team Championship twice withJeff Jarrett and held theWCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship twice.[13]
In 1991, Osborne signed withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) and debuted as "Big Josh", an outdoorsman who danced with bears and was friends withTommy Rich.[15] He made his WCW pay-per-view debut on May 19 at the inauguralSuperBrawl, defeatingBlack Bart.[16] In August, Big Josh won theWorld Six-Man Tag Team Championship withDustin Rhodes andTom Zenk, which they held for three months.[13] From January to February 1992, he also held theWCW United States Tag Team Championship withRon Simmons.[13] Borne made his final pay-per-view appearance for the company on May 17 atWrestleWar, defeatingRichard Morton.[17] He continued to make sporadic WCW TV appearances throughout the summer before leaving the company.[15]
Osborne returned to the WWF on September 21, 1992 at aWWF Superstars taping as Matt Borne, defeating Bill Jordan.[18] He would shortly thereafter becomeDoink the Clown, in avillainous clowngimmick that would frequently pull tricks on wrestlers at ringside as well as fans.[18] He made his in-ring televised debut on the January 31, 1993 edition ofWrestling Challenge, defeating Bob East.[19] In March, he startedfeuding withCrush after attacking him with aprosthetic arm on an episode ofSuperstars, which resulted in a match atWrestleMania IX on April 4.[20] Doink defeated Crush after another Doink (Steve Keirn) came out from under the ring and attacked Crush with another prosthetic arm.[21]
In the spring, Doink was given the opportunity to enter theKing of the Ring tournament, facingMr. Perfect in the qualifying round. After two time-limit draws, Mr. Perfect defeated Doink in their third match on the May 24 episode ofMonday Night Raw.[22][23][24] At thetitular event on June 13, Doink (or rather, two Doinks) distracted Crush, costing him hisIntercontinental Championship match againstShawn Michaels.[25] In the summer, Doink continued his feud with Crush and was successful in house show encounters againstMarty Jannetty and the1-2-3 Kid, despite occasionally losing to higher profile opponents such asBret Hart orTatanka.[26] AtSummerSlam on August 30,Jerry Lawler hired Doink to wrestle Hart as he feigned injury, with Hart winning by disqualification when Lawler interfered.[27]
Several days later, Doink turnedface by inciting a mocking chant from the fans directed at Lawler. On the September 13 episode ofRaw, Doink poured a pail of water overBobby Heenan, marking his face turn.[28] In late November, Doink was given a present from Santa Claus in the form of amidget in the Doink costume, which he namedDink.[29] Shortly after, however, Osborne was fired for re-occurring drug abuses.[9] His final WWF TV appearance was on the December 27 episode ofRaw.[30] Osborne cited in a shoot interview thatBam Bam Bigelow did not like putting over Osborne, which led to Bigelow snitching on him for smoking weed in the hallway of his hotel and getting him fired from the WWF.[8][31] Following his departure, Doink was played by Ray Licameli (also known as Ray Apollo).[15]
Borne next appeared as Doink in 1994 inExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as911's surprise opponent in theNWA World Title Tournament.[15] After Doink lost a match to then-ECW World Heavyweight ChampionShane Douglas, Douglas criticizedVince 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.[2] Borne then changed his ring name to Borne Again and continued wearing the clown suit, albeit without the wig, wearing a minimal amount of face paint, as well as growing out his hair and beard. After beating his opponents, he would make them dress in clown outfits. However, his tenure with the company was short-lived due to personal problems.[2]
After leaving ECW, Osborne wrestled on theindependent circuit for several reunion shows and independent promotions under his Matt Borne ring name.[8][15] He promoted theEllwood City, Pennsylvania-based promotion United States Wrestling League (USWL) with his friend Frank Szabo.[31] He also worked alongsideSandy Barr as abooker in Portland.[1] In August 2005, atWrestleReunion II, Borne participated in an eight-man tag team match alongsideAndrew Martin,Steve Corino andThe Masked Superstar, losing toDusty Rhodes,The Blue Meanie,Tom Prichard andD'Lo Brown.[32] On December 10, 2007, at the suggestion ofRicky Steamboat, Osborne reprised the role of Doink atRaw's 15th Anniversary as he took part in a Legends Battle Royal.[15]
In early 2010, Osborne reinvented the Doink character to resembleHeath Ledger's portrayal ofThe Joker inThe Dark Knight, nicknaming the incarnation 'Reborne Again'.[5] The new character debuted on March 27 for ISPW inNew Jersey.[5] On May 23, Doink the Clown, portrayed byDusty Wolfe, interfered againstSkandor Akbar and his men Dr. Knuckles and Rommel, causing them to lose the Wrecking Ball Wrestling tag titles. In retaliation, Akbar called on the original Doink (Matt Borne), and they were scheduled to meet on August 15.[33] At that time, Wolfe no-showed the event to avoid Borne. On August 8, Borne won the Wrecking Ball Wrestling Championship.[34] Osborne continued to compete on a semi-regular basis all over the United States for the last several years until a few days before his death on June 28, 2013.[35]
Osborne, aged 55, was found dead by his girlfriend on June 28, 2013, in thePlano, Texas apartment he lived in.[1][15] His death was acknowledged by WWE.[3] Though no weapons were found near his body, and police said the death appeared accidental, they launched a precautionary homicide investigation.[36] The cause of death was later determined to be an accidental overdose ofmorphine andhydrocodone. He also suffered fromheart disease, which had been a contributing factor in his death.[7]
In June 2015, awrongful death lawsuit was filed against WWE, alleging that "WWE created a culture of violence and sacrificed Matt Osborne's brain for its own profit" which "led to further illnesses and injuries, including depression and drug abuse, which ultimately resulted in his untimely death." WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said the suit was without merit and blamed the attorneys for taking advantage of the families involved.[37] The suit was filed by the mother of two of Osborne's four children, and was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[38] The lawsuit was dismissed byUS District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant, who ruled that they failed to show that his death was linked tochronic traumatic encephalopathy.[39]
Matt Osborne (as Doink) appeared inWWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game and several versions of the video gameWWE Raw. Osborne's "Evil Doink" persona also appeared inWWE 2K22 as DLC.[40]
He was the focus of a fourth season episode of the docuseriesDark Side of the Ring.[9]
Dusty Rhodes, D'Low Brown, Blue Meanie, Tom Prichard def. Masked Superstar, Test, Steve Corino, & Evil Clown
,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database