Doink the Clown was the topic on this week’s episode of Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Bruce discussed the origin of the gimmick and how it fit Matt Bourne.
During an earlier run with the company, Matt was first pegged to bear a resemblance to another famous clown:
“Mike Hegstrand (Road Warrior Hawk), looking at Matt Bourne, saw him as Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. Matt had been sitting there, and he had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. The picture was just perfect. He had his boots halfway unlaced and was sitting in a chair. Matt kind of had a belly, and Matt could be a miserable prick. So after the match, he’s all sweaty, he’s kind of balding a little bit and his hair’s all hanging down in his face. He’s got the cigarette dangling out, and Mike just looks at him and goes ‘Krusty the Clown.’ And that was all that I could ever see going forward of Matt Bourne.”
Turning Matt Bourne into Doink the Clown:
“So when Big Josh had his run, he was done, he was looking for something, we brought him in as Matt Bourne. I remembered, and Vince had remembered, the whole Krusty the Clown thing. Vince didn’t know who the hell Krusty the Clown was.
“People either love clowns or they hate clowns. You think of someone who hides behind the makeup of a clown, for the most part, they’re painting on a happy face because underneath the paint is a miserable person. This was an opportunity to take Matt Bourne and take his personality – he was extremely funny, he was quick-witted but very mean-spirited – and just take that personality, transform it into a character that is not Matt Bourne, because Matt could be a little bit dry. Put some makeup on his face and all of the sudden, Doink the Clown is born.”
Selling Vince on the clown gimmick:
“I just remember him being in the dressing room, he came up for a quote tryout, see how he looked and see how he was moving in the ring. He wanted to do it as Matt Bourne, and Pat and I reminded Vince of the Krusty the Clown deal. You just had to go ‘Clown. Evil clown, Vince.’ There was a movie out, Killer Clowns From Outer Space, where these clowns come down and they’re heels in the movie. So we got Vince the movie to show him ‘This is what a bad clown looks like.’ Made him watch the Simpsons, made him watch Krusty, and Vince embraced it. Vince thought it was hilarious. Vince thought that it would be a great character. Everybody, everybody can identify with a clown. You either love them or you hate them.”
To listen to the entire episode, check out Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard.
Please credit PWPodcasts when using any part of this transcription.
So according to Bruce’s comments, it seems like Bruce himself was pushing for the clown character, simply based on Hawk’s comment from a ways back ( time line?) had to of been when Borne and Hawk were in the same company…and who knows if Bruce was even there when the comment was made. He could have heard the comment through the rumor mill.