History Wrestling / DoinkTheClown

* WeaponOfChoice: Fake arm, confetti, bucket of water, mop, big hammer

* FacialMarkings

* [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair You Gotta Have Green Hair]]

There is a good writeup about the gimmick's history at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doink_the_Clown The Other Wiki]].

Not to be confused with TheThingThatGoesDoink, or with [[NightmareFetishist people who like to doink clowns]].

[[caption-width-right:213: A second Doink (Steve Keirn) helps out the first Doink against [[Wrestling/BrianAdams Crush]] at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} IX'']]

Not to be confused with TheThingThatGoesDoink.

* LegacyCharacter

* DiabolusExMachina: Doink just started showing up in the crowd, with no buildup, no background, no explanation, no clue as to his motivations.

!!! "Evil Clown Tropes":

* ShoutOut: In 2010, Matt Borne changed the gimmick's facepaint design to resemble that of SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight.'' Playing off his "Borne Again" run in Wrestling/{{ECW}}, where he had shed the gimmick, he called this new version "Reborne Again."

The Doink persona would also be used in the WWE by various wrestlers such as Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/JeffJarret for various [[{{Kayfabe}} storyline]] reasons.

'''Doink the Clown''' is a ProfessionalWrestling [[TheGimmick gimmick]] that first appeared in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in late 1992 and lasted into 1995. He started out as a vicious {{Heel}} played by veteran "Maniac" Matt Borne. The second Doink, also evil, was played by veteran [[Wrestling/TheFabulousOnes Steve Keirn]], who had last been seen as Skinner. Sometime after Doink's first PPV loss, to [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret "The Hitman" Hart]] by DQ at ''Wrestling/{{SummerSlam}} 1993'', the gimmick started becoming popular. Borne left in October 1993 due to drug/alcohol problems, and was replaced. Doink was [[HeelFaceTurn turned face]] around this time, with first [[Wrestling/SteveLombardi Steve "Brooklyn Brawler" Lombardi]] and then Ray Licachelli (a.k.a. Ray Apollo or Gary Fall) taking on the gimmick full time. The face turn, complete with a guy playing SantaClaus giving Doink his midget wrestler {{Sidekick}} Dink, is generally acknowledged as the moment that killed off everything that had made Doink so effective.

The Doink persona would later be used in the WWE by various wrestlers such as Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/NickDinsmore for various [[{{Kayfabe}} storyline]] reasons.

[[caption-width-right:213: A second Doink (Steve Keirn) helps out the first Doink against Crush at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} IX'']]
->'''Doink the Clown''': And then I look at their little smiles... and I like to just take those smiles right away. A-ha-ha-ha."
-->--''WWF Superstars,'' [[http://www.cagematch.net/?id=93&nr=89 January 9, 1993]]

[[quoteright:213:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doinkvscrush_2582.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:213: A second Doink (Steve Keirn) helps out the first Doink against Crush at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} IX'']]

* TheScrappy: Fan opinion [[LoveItOrHateIt differs]] on Doink's heel run, but his time as a face is pretty much agreed upon by everybody as the ultimate symbol of everything wrong with the WWF in the early '90s.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Doink had been making appearances in the crowd during matches starting back in October and playing simple pranks on wrestlers (dousing Bam Bam Bigelow with [[ImprobableWeaponUser confetti]], leaving {{Banana Peel}}s on the floor for Wrestling/BobBacklund to slip on after a match, using a tripwire on [[Wrestling/BigBossman the Big Bossman]], sticking a mop in Tatanka's face, putting a [[KickMePrank "KICK ME" sign]] on Lance Cassidy [Steve Armstrong]'s jacket and kicking him, etc.) This changed on the January 16, 1993 (taped December 14, 1992) episode of ''WWF Superstars.'' After winning a {{Squash|Match}}, Crush confronted Doink about the pranks he had been pulling on kids in the audience. Doink [[WoundedGazelleGambit had his arm in a sling]] and pleaded with Crush not to hurt him. Doink offered Crush a flower, which he accepted. As Crush handed the flower to a fan, Doink ''pulled the (fake) arm right out of its socket'' and beat up Crush with it. This was considered so shocking that even commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler, who normally endorsed whatever the [=heels=] did, had to say that Doink had gone over the line, though it DID take some prompting by Wrestling/RandySavage.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Doink just started showing up in the crowd, with no buildup, no background, no explanation, no clue as to his motivations.
** Commentator Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} outright {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d this when Doink was making balloon animals in the entranceway during the Wrestling/RickMartel vs. Wrestling/{{Tatanka}} match at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 92,'' asking, "What is he doing here?"

* EstablishingCharacterMoment[=/=]MoralEventHorizon: Doink had been making appearances in the crowd during matches starting back in October and playing simple pranks on wrestlers (dousing Bam Bam Bigelow with [[ImprobableWeaponUser confetti]], leaving {{Banana Peel}}s on the floor for Wrestling/BobBacklund to slip on after a match, using a tripwire on [[Wrestling/BigBossman the Big Bossman]], sticking a mop in Tatanka's face, putting a [[KickMePrank "KICK ME" sign]] on Lance Cassidy [Steve Armstrong]'s jacket and kicking him, etc.) This changed on the January 16, 1993 (taped December 14, 1992) episode of ''WWF Superstars.'' After winning a {{Squash|Match}}, Crush confronted Doink about the pranks he had been pulling on kids in the audience. Doink [[WoundedGazelleGambit had his arm in a sling]] and pleaded with Crush not to hurt him. Doink offered Crush a flower, which he accepted. As Crush handed the flower to a fan, Doink ''pulled the (fake) arm right out of its socket'' and beat up Crush with it. This was considered so shocking that even commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler, who normally endorsed whatever the [=heels=] did, had to say that Doink had gone over the line, though it DID take some prompting by Wrestling/RandySavage.

* ArchEnemy: (as a heel): Crush, [[Wrestling/CurtHennig "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig]]; (as a face): Wrestling/BamBamBigelow, Wrestling/LunaVachon, [[Wrestling/JerryLawler Jerry "The King" Lawler]]

** Commentator Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} outright {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d this when Doink was making balloon animals in the entranceway during the Rick Martel vs. Wrestling/{{Tatanka}} match at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 92,'' asking, "What is he doing here?"

** Commentator Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} outright {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d this when Doink was making balloon animals in the entranceway during the Rick Martel vs. Wrestling/{{Tatanka}} match at ''Survivor Series 92,'' asking, "What is he doing here?"

* EstablishingCharacterMoment[=/=]MoralEventHorizon: Doink had been making appearances in the crowd during matches starting back in October and playing simple pranks on wrestlers (dousing Wrestling/BamBamBigelow with [[ImprobableWeaponUser confetti]], leaving {{Banana Peel}}s on the floor for Wrestling/BobBacklund to slip on after a match, using a tripwire on [[Wrestling/BigBossman the Big Bossman]], sticking a mop in Tatanka's face, putting a [[KickMePrank "KICK ME" sign]] on Lance Cassidy [Steve Armstrong]'s jacket and kicking him, etc.) This changed on the January 16, 1993 (taped December 14, 1992) episode of ''WWF Superstars.'' After winning a {{Squash|Match}}, Crush confronted Doink about the pranks he had been pulling on kids in the audience. Doink [[WoundedGazelleGambit had his arm in a sling]] and pleaded with Crush not to hurt him. Doink offered Crush a flower, which he accepted. As Crush handed the flower to a fan, Doink ''pulled the (fake) arm right out of its socket'' and beat up Crush with it. This was considered so shocking that even commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler, who normally endorsed whatever the [=heels=] did, had to say that Doink had gone over the line, though it DID take some prompting by Wrestling/RandySavage.

** Commentator Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} outright [[Lampshade|Hanging}}d this when Doink was making balloon animals during the Rick Martel vs. Wrestling/{{Tatanka}} match at ''Survivor Series 92,'' asking, "What is he doing here?"