What? everyone loves a thread about a heel...
A lot of posters on this site might not be old enough to remember how absolutely brilliant Doink the Clown was when he first debuted as a heel. He was a creepy, sadistic clown, who hated himself, and hated everyone else. Complete with creepy circus music with kids crying. no bullshit. TO this day his entrance at WM9 is pretty fucking eerie.
I remember Doink, but the thing is I first came into Professional Wrestling, ironically enough by way of Mania IX. (9) I can't for the life of me recall his original theme music, however if
this would be it..
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Yes, it truly is even to a 27 year old - eerie and creepy as shit, especially for a Clown. And on that note, I don't even hold a fear of Clowns.. it's just the music fits so well with that of a "bad" Clown, that it makes you instantly, alone and solely, fear him.
This Doink was amazing. This Doink is who could work, under any circumstances and in part I question if they tried on two different accounts to duplicate this character by way of the likes of The Boogeyman & Kizarny.
Boogey had such a great chance to be unbelievable as a dark, sinister heel.. but they failed on him. Kizarny was fucked from jump street with that weird language/talking he'd do. But Doink, the original - heel - Doink, worked and will always be capable of working.
"NorCal thats silly, in this day and age"
You say? I dont think so. I mean, they just spent two years on The Boogeyman, who couldnt have been MORE shit. He wrestled at Wrestlemania even!! fucking TWICE!!! and if we are truly going back towards targeting a younger audience, well, why not scare the fuck out of them. The creepy clown has been an absolute cant miss villian for years and years, and thats pretty undisputable. I mean, lets be serious here. Clowns are creepy as fuck.
I think the beginning of this part of your post speaks volumes. If you can push a guy like the Boogeyman on TWO Wrestlemania's (really? I recall one, not 2) but even so much as pushing him (and allowing him to win, mind you) on ONE.. is mind blowing.
With that being said, of course there is always hope a character like Doink can return and cause trouble. However, there is always a negative nelly to add to the mix and that big question mark is how the fans (most, who aren't old school'ers per-say) would remember him.
You see, you & I and a few others recall the heel, original Doink. Yet most who recall the character, know him for being light-hearted, funny and friendly.. with a midget side-kick, Dink. That Doink killed any hope the original character of Doink had at being pure evil.. because despite changing whomever played him before (beauty of costume and face paint) you still have the aura hanging over the character's head of being this Family friendly pussy with a midget.
I really feel if they TRULY committed to the character, and did the things necessary to make him really creepy, you could have an upper mid carder, a jobber to the stars.
This is the same "What If's" I brought up with my hopes that the 2nd return of the Boogeyman would be played out like the storyline in the video game they gave him.
(side-track) - In the video game, for Boogey, they gave him the ability to have mystical powers and mind control. He took control over Finlay & Santino, and feuded with the Undertaker. They made Boogey seem like this very dark, sinister bad ass that could literally hold a chance in hell against Taker.
Of course, real life Professional Wrestling isn't the same as video game Pro Wrestling. So your hopes and dreams of them committing to all of this, because it'd take A TON of work to make a heel Doink (not really a ton, but a ton to them) into being dark and evil again.. they'd likely pass in favor of just having the character be light-hearted, funny and stupid.
You have a man that isn't a clown by profession, but by choice. His past is so scarred by the horrors he has went through that his psyche has reached the point where it no longer can bear to let his face be seen. Due to this, he hides behind facepaint and the guise of someone that would be friendly. However, he's really a deadly man that few could match in combat.
That wasn't about Doink. It was about the Joker.
Hell yes this could work today. It's a gimmick that is amazingly complex while at the same time being amazingly simple. Bobby Heenan put him over as strong as possible by saying how he was an accomplished wrestler and not a clown. Doink was a man taht was unable to function in society so he adopted the role of a clown. How brilliant is that? If the Joker can win an Oscar, Doink can make a return to the WWE.
This entire post, I'd love to see Doink brought back as. It almost makes me wish they did this with the character in the beginning, because naturally I doubt Vince had ANY ambition on pushing "a Clown" as anything other than a side-show act.
All in all though, once again the fans of the Sport-Entertainment create some of the best storylines that'll likely never see the light of day by way of on-screen characters, unfortunately.
