Matt Borne Matthew " Matt " Wade Osborne ( July 27 , 1957 - June 28 , 2013 ) was an American professional wrestler . Osborne was a second generation wrestler , being son of " Tough " Tony Borne , and was best known as being the first and longest - running wrestler to portray the character of Doink the Clown . Professional wrestling career . Independent circuit . Under the ring name Matt Bourne , Osborne debuted on December 6 , 1978 and began wrestling for many independent promotions , most prominently for Portland Wrestling , Mid - South Wrestling , where he was allied with Ted DiBiase and Jim Duggan as a member of the " Rat Pack " faction . While performing on the indies , Osborne competed against Ricky Steamboat at the first WrestleMania in Madison Square Garden . World Class Championship Wrestling ( 1986 – 1987 ) . In early 1986 , Borne joined World Class Championship Wrestling . Upon debuting for WCCW , Borne teamed with Buzz Sawyer to win a one - day tournament to crown new World Tag Team Champions . He would also win the Texas Heavyweight Championship and defended the title at the Christmas Star Wars event against The Iron Sheik . World Championship Wrestling ( 1991 – 1992 ) . In 1991 , Osborne signed with World Championship Wrestling and debuted as Big Josh , an outdoorsman who danced with bears and was friends with Tommy Rich . During his stint with WCW , Osborne won the United States Tag Team Championship with Ron Simmons and the World Six - Man Tag Team Championship with Dustin Rhodes and Tom Zenk . Bourne made his final pay - per - view appearance for the company on May 17 , 1992 at the pay - per - view WrestleWar , where he defeated Richard Morton . On the May 23 episode of " WorldWide " , he made his final appearance with the company as he defeated Tracy Smothers . World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( 1992 – 1993 , 2007 ) . After leaving WCW in 1992 , Osborne debuted for the World Wrestling Federation in late 1992 and began competing in dark matches as himself before becoming Doink the Clown , a villainous clown character that would frequently pull tricks on wrestlers at ringside as well as fans . He would also briefly use the character in United States Wrestling Association in February before returning to WWF television in March . Soon after his televised return , he began feuding with Crush after attacking him with a prosthetic arm on an episode of " Superstars of Wrestling " , which subsequently resulted in a match at WrestleMania IX . During this match , another Doink ( Steve Keirn ) came out from under the ring and attacked Crush with another prosthetic arm , allowing the real Doink to pin Crush . In the spring of 1993 , Doink was given the opportunity to enter the King of the Ring tournament , facing Mr . Perfect in the qualifying round . After two time - limit draws , Mr . Perfect defeated Doink in their third match . Doink would go the next couple of months mostly wrestling enhancement talents until Jerry Lawler hired Doink to wrestle Bret Hart at SummerSlam . After Doink lost to Hart , Lawler betrayed Doink , resulting in Doink becoming a fan favorite . Shortly afterward , however , Osborne was fired for re - occurring drug abuses , which he has since overcome . Following his departure , Doink was played by other wrestlers . On December 10 , 2007 , Osborne reprised the role of Doink at " Raw " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s 15th Anniversary as he took part in a Legends Battle Royal . Extreme Championship Wrestling ( 1994 ) . Following his departure from the WWF , Borne appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling for a handful of matches as Doink . However , the fans hated this , as ECW was viewed as an alternative to the WWF and WCW and seeing a gimmick like this made Doink a villain for a completely different reason . After losing a match to then - World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas , Douglas would go on to criticize Vince 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 . 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 . Semi – retirement ( 1994 – 2013 ) . Since leaving ECW , Osborne has wrestled on the independent circuit at several reunion shows and for various independent promotion under his Matt Borne ring name . In 2005 , at WrestleReunion II Borne participated in an eight - man tag team match alongside Andrew Martin , Steve Corino and The Masked Superstar . However , his team lost to Dusty Rhodes , The Blue Meanie , Tom Prichard and D ' Lo Brown . Since then , Osborne has appeared sporadically on the indies . On August 8 , 2010 Borne won the Wrecking Ball Wrestling Championship . Death . Osborne was found dead on June 28 , 2013 , in the Plano , Texas house he shared with his business partner . Though no weapons were found near his body , and police have said the death appears accidental , they launched a precautionary homicide investigation . The autopsy revealed Osborne had died of an accidental overdose of morphine and hydrocodone . He also suffered from heart disease , which had been a contributing factor in his death .