All language subtitles for S04E04 Dark Side of the Ring

[Laughing]

I might have a little
surprise for you tonight.

Matt Borne was a
terrifying clown.

[Maniacal laughing]

Vince McMahon got
this gimmick, Doink...

And he's like,

"Oh, I know the perfect
person to do this."

And, he told Matt,
"You're gonna make this

character work for me." And,
I mean, look what he did.

Why make children cry?
What is that get ya?

Matt was a maniac. Maniac
Matt was a very fitting name.

[Announcer]
Maniac Matt Borne.

Matt, Matt...
[Laughing]

[Announcer] Matt Borne
in charge right now.

He fired up, brother.
But he was solid.

Before putting on
the clown suit,

Matt Borne was a second
generation wrestler with

a chip on his shoulder and
something to prove.

Yes, baby,
that's right.

But despite his success
as one of the WWF's

most iconic stars,

Matt's bad decisions
and bad habits

would continue
to haunt him.

Everybody has problems out
there in the real world.

It's no different in the world
of professional wrestling.

I can just see him in the
back, having a cigarette,

like Crusty, going, "Yeah, I
whooped his ass, didn't I?"

There's no silver
lining here.

His demons get the
best of him and,

it was just all downhill.

When he did drugs,

he was a completely
different human being.

He liked oxys,
he liked steroids,

he liked cocaine, yes.

And I didn't even know
he was on crack.

A clown in the ring whose
violent tendencies

ran deeper than the
grease paint.

When you see a headline
about Doink the Clown

being on drugs,
fighting...

you just think he's
a terrible person.

I tried to make him realize
that you don't have to

do drugs, you don't
have to get violent.

We all know you're tough.
Just be you.

Because I did love him.

And in the end,
his tragic death

would leave some still
looking for answers.

Nobody wants to believe
that it was an accident.

I don't believe it.

There was 110%
foul play.

♪

♪

[Cheering & applauding]

♪

I mean, this is the biggest
crowd in history, 1.2 million.

Nobody wants to lose in front
of that many people, Tito.

-Absolutely!
-[Match bell]

It was my dad,
wasn't it?

Yeah, I watched it,
it was phenomenal.

From Portland,
Oregon...

Matt Borne!

Matt Borne looks in
good shape, himself,

you know, he's a second
generation wrestler.

He just- no offence
to Steamboat, like,

he was obviously good, but
my dad just killed it, like,

the way he hit the ropes,
the way he hit the floor.

Like, I actually believe
that they beat each other up.

[Announcer] Matt Borne
is not done yet.

My dad loved his job.

He didn't just do it
to be famous.

He actually loved
what he did,

and he was so
frickin' good at it.

My name's Tegan Osborne,
and I am the daughter

of Matt Osborne,
Doink The Clown.

Steamboat is,
here he comes! Wow!

Some 15 feet across
the ring, he got him!

[Match bell ringing]

I actually met Matt in '93,
in Ellwood City.

He had just gotten
fired from WWE.

He definitely looked rough.

Looked like he partied
a lot, put it that way.

And, when I first
met him, he's like,

"I'm Doink The Clown."
I'm like, "What,

do you go to kids'
birthday parties, or...?"

And he's like, "I'm a
pro wrestler."

And I'm like, 'Yeah,
that shit's all fake."

♪

But, Matt just made
it look so real to me.

♪

My name is Michelle James,

and I was married to
Matt Osborne...

until- well,
until his death.

We weren't together,
but we were friends.

And, we have two kids.

You know, the other
women that married him,

married him, obviously,
for the money.

I didn't, like, I loved
this man, I really did.

He was 37.
I was 21.

So, my first impressions
were, wow, this guy's old.

But, he was
still good at it.

[Announcer]
Here's Borne!

Matt was hugely
influential...

not just to me, but by
extension anyone who

ever saw my work
and liked it,

is, in a way, admiring the
work of Matt Borne.

My name is Mick Foley.

I'm a three-time
WWE champion,

known as the
Hardcore Legend.

And Matt Borne was a
colleague and friend of mine.

I saw in him what I
hoped to one day be.

You don't just
play a character,

you inhabit the character.

You had to believe it,
yourself.

He was as second generation
wrestler that respect had

been instilled in him by
his dad, "Tough" Tony Borne.

Tony was quite content with
being a Portland wrestler,

and he was proud of it.

Until this day, if you say
"Tough" Tony Borne,

everybody in Oregon
knows who he is.

Matt grew up with
his dad, actually,

because his mom and dad
divorced when he was 10.

He remembers the
day they split up.

His mom said, "You go
with your dad because

I don't want that
little bastard."

And, that stayed
in Matt's head

probably 'til
the day he died.

He had so much anger in
him, and passion in him.

I would consider him similar
to the Incredible Hulk, yes.

Like, that was
just my dad.

He was 6, 6"1.
He was just thick.

His hands were thick.
His neck was thick.

Everything about my
dad was just bigger.

I don't know whether his
dad's legacy helped or

hindered Matt, but it was a
pretty big name to live up to.

It's difficult being
the child of a wrestler.

Okay, we got
dad and his dad.

"Tough" Tony Borne
and Matt Borne.

Two legends that are
no longer here, but...

This is one of my
favourite pictures 'cause

he just looks happy.

Matt was solid.

He was of an era
where you laid it in,

and you made
people believe.

Matt made you
work in the ring.

The term that's coming to my
mind is, "Whirling Dervish".

He sold pain differently,

and he was in
constant motion.

Well, I certainly think
Matt's father had

an influence on
making Matt tough.

My name is Dr. Tom Prichard,
and I first met

Matt Borne in
the early 1980s.

-Tommy Prichard!
-[Cheering]

Matt could be abrasive.

He could be confrontational.

[Chuckling]
He could be...

out of his mind.

We were both young in
the business back then,

but Matt had
grown up there.

He learned a lot of it
through his father,

but his father came up
through the ranks with

these guys who were
even more insane.

So, Matt's learning
from his dad,

how to handle conflict and,

not everybody would
appreciate that.

Well, I don't think any
father could be

any prouder of his son
than I am of mine.

After establishing
himself in Portland,

Matt begins a tour of the
territories that make up the

wrestling world, building a
name and reputation

across the country.

Matt Borne did the
regional territories.

Introducing Matt Borne!

And he got over
everywhere he did,

and he got over
in Portland.

Tony Borne and
Matt Borne!

He got over in Texas.

Texas heavyweight
champion, Matt Borne!

He got over in Carolinas.

Well, first off, I gotta say,
Matt Borne and I-

from the time I met him-
did not get along.

He was a bully,
in my opinion.

Ho! Hey, folks!

I'm WWE all-fave'r,
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan!

From the golden
age of wrestling!

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan!

Mid-South, at that time, was
a snake pit of tough guys.

And back then, six-man
tags were pretty big.

The Freebirds were
really, really hot.

Of course,
the Von Erichs were hot.

So, Bill Watts decided to
put together a six-man tag,

and of course, he had two
second generation guys with

Matt Borne and Dibiase, and
he obviously saw something

in me and put me with
those guys who were

already pretty
established...

and formed
The Rat Pack.

One for all,
all for one.

We're The Rat Pack, man.

Every night,
you're throwing punches,

you're blocking punches.
You're getting potato'd.

We weren't the babyface
heels or the crybaby heels.

We were the kick butt heels.

[Announcer]
It's busting loose again!

All three were
incredible performers,

incredible workers.

They didn't have a
chance against us.

Matt seemed to have
a lot going for him,

but he was always...

fighting those demons.

This Borne is a very
aggressive wrestler-

Oh, beautiful suplex!

I only knew Matt Borne
through reputation.

Hi, this is
B. Brian Blair,

retired professional
wrestler.

I heard that Matt was a

product of the
Portland territory,

and that's about
all I knew about Matt,

until we had met in this bar.

The place was packed
full of the boys.

And Matt comes up to me-
Matt Borne now-

he's new in the territory
and he comes up to me and

he says, "Hey, why are you
messing with my girl?"

I looked at Matt,
and I said,

"I'm not messing
with your girl, Matt.

I don't- I don't have
a girlfriend here.

I don't know what you're
talking about."

He seemed like he was
a little, you know,

jacked up,
you know, just...

very big eyes, and I kind
of think that Matt

wanted to establish himself
as a tough guy.

And, he thought that I was
gonna be the guy that

he was gonna
establish himself on.

So, all of a sudden, I turn
around and, boom,

Matt hits me from behind,
and he goes to suplex me,

and when he did,
I turned in mid-air and

landed on top of him.

And when I was
on top of Matt,

he grabbed my ears and
he's pulling my head down.

He's got his teeth wide open,
I can still see his teeth,

you know, he's getting
ready to bite my nose.

And as he goes
to bite my nose,

I saw his lip sticking out,
so I went down and bit

his bottom lip right off
and spit his lip off.

And so, I'm on top of him,
and you know,

I punch him, and
he's like a zombie.

And, I thought it was over.

A few minutes later,
he comes back,

jumps on me again.
[Raspy exhale]

I wind up beating him up
really good this time.

I mean,
I hammered this guy.

How he ever got up,
I don't know.

He was live, and I mean
all the way live.

This was un-human.

And, a little while goes by
now and people are

buying me drinks and
they're laughing and,

all of a sudden-
I can't believe it-

frickin' Matt
jumps on me again.

He's all bandaged up.

This time, as I'm trying to
drag him towards the door,

he hooked my right leg
somehow and I fell forward.

And, as I fell forward,
I felt him on my back

and then I felt a hand like
reaching for my eyeball.

♪

And there's Ivan Kolov
right at the doorway and,

Ivan kicked Matt's
hand and said,

"No eyes," which I'm very
grateful for because

Matt could've pulled
my eyeball out.

I mean, he was like...
electricity.

He was bleeding all
over the place-

from his eyes, from his nose,
from his mouth.

I guess if you have
the right drugs in you,

they can obviously make you
superhuman because

that was not a human.

Matt's violent behaviour
outside the ring is already

causing problems
with his coworkers,

but an incident at ringside
will bring his time in

The Rat Pack to an end.

Matt Borne, ready to
get in there and

kick somebody
in the teeth.

He's a man who's
been well schooled.

It was Monroe, Louisiana,
coming out of the ring.

And again, I'm 280 pounds,
I'm jacked up,

I'm pushing 505 on the
bench, I'm blown up.

I'm blowing snot
and steam and sweat,

and I'm coming
out of the ring,

I just got done kicking butt.

I'm going through
the crowd- Boom!

I get popped.
We were bad guys.

People didn't like us
back then, brother.

They hated us,
you know. Boom!

I popped the
guy right back.

He went down,
I kept on going.

But when he went down,
Matt put a boot to him.

Broke his right front
orbital lobe.

"I kicked him so hard
his eyeball fell out."

♪

Following a match in
Monroe, Louisiana,

Matt Borne takes an
altercation with

a fan in the crowd too far.

Ah, so the guy,
he sued me.

He sued Matt, and
he sued the company.

And I asked him, I said,
"Did you go to jail?"

He was like, "No, I didn't
get in trouble at all."

Matt got fired,
Duggan was kept.

And, I think that's where
the hard feelings

might have come out
on Matt's side.

Though Matt leaves
Mid-South under a cloud,

his talent and connections
land him a job with

the World Wrestling
Federation.

But less than a year
into his contract,

he's fired once again,
this time, for drug use.

I don't think Matt
ever was sober.

He was always
snorting coke.

I mean, he'd have to start
his day smoking weed.

Maybe sometimes pain pills,
if he had 'em.

I think it's the lifestyle.

You know, they would
go out and drink.

Well, that would
lead to this.

Oh, let's try that.

In spite of the setback,

Matt lands on his feet
again as he's hired by

Ted Turner's World
Championship Wrestling,

and given a gimmick inspired
by his northwest roots.

Big Josh was
a lumberjack.

That was his character.

He was kind of a bad guy,
but yet, in a sweet way.

[Laughing]

My name is Maria, and I
am Matt Borne's ex-wife,

from way back when.

I was with a friend of mine,
and we were at a match.

And, Matt, evidently, sent
one of the security guys out

to get me, said he
wanted to meet me.

So, I went back and,
he introduced himself,

and invited my girlfriend
and I out for a drink.

He seemed nice,
he was...

very cordial.

It was pretty fast.
It was...

probably within about
three months that

he asked me
to move down.

So, I quit my
job and I moved.

And, you know,
"I want the whole thing.

I want the wife, the kids,
things like that."

Well- [Laughing]-

I was to be induced,
in the hospital,

so I had an appointment to go
in at 10:30 in the morning.

Matt went out the night before,
and never came home.

He showed up just before
my daughter was born-

high, a little drunk.

But he showed up.

When he was with WCW,

he had an offer from
Vince McMahon.

So, he took that job.

With a second
chance at the WWF,

Matt lands yet
another opportunity

to reinvent himself.

From what I understand,
they created Doink together.

Doink was a clown.
[Laughing]

Doink was
a crazy-looking clown.

[Laughing]
With green hair.

When I first heard of how
Doink The Clown came about,

I thought it made perfect
sense because Hawk,

from The Road Warriors, was
looking at Matt 'cause Matt,

you know, smoking a
cigarette after his match,

boot half unlaced,
his hair all a mess

and he's sweating,
and is like,

"We've got our own
Crusty over there."

[Exhaling]
Crusty the Clown.

I could pull a better cartoon
out of my a-ha-ha!

Hey, whoa!

It's not what I would think
of as an ideal character

for a wrestler, but...

seemed to take off
pretty good.

As far a technical wrestling
is concerned, knowing holds,

knowing counters
and what have you,

Doink is right up there
with the best of 'em.

Doink The Clown considered
one of the greats!

But why dress up in this
ridiculous-looking outfit?

What does that get you?

I think the little ones
were scared,

like this evil,
but happy clown.

I can't criticize anybody,
with a 2x4 and a hoe.

Oh!

Whatever works.

I mean, and Doink
got over pretty good.

As soon as I heard that
Matt Borne was going to WWE,

not as a clown, but as
an evil clown, I thought,

he's going to sink
his teeth into this.

Doink The Clown
having fun!

If they don't have a sense of
humour, that's their problem!

If I laugh,
that's all that matters!

It was the best
character he ever did.

Doink was his favourite.

My dad was just goofy.
He looked scary,

but he was like a big,
goofy teddy bear.

So, that also probably
helped him do Doink because

I see some of that when he
wrestles, and I'm like,

damn, like that's-
I don't think that's Doink,

I think that's my dad.

He would just look in the
mirror and kind of

practice saying this
and saying that.

I am no more...

than an instrument
of nature...

a product of
my environment.

It was a gimmick,

but Matt breathed life
into this gimmick.

I did not like a lot of what
WWE was doing at that time,

but I did like
Doink The Clown.

And Doink! Oh!
Forget about it.

"Well, by God,
I may be a clown,

but I'm gonna rub
your face in the mat,

I'm gonna beat you up,

and it's gonna be
funny to me."

[Laughing]

WrestleMania IX, it was
frickin' phenomenal.

Doink is wrestling.

[Announcer]
Doink the Clown!

He's losing, and he
keeps trying to go

underneath the stage,
and...

all of a sudden, this other
Doink The Clown pops up.

♪

They beat the shit out
of Crush at the end,

and I'm like,
holy shit, like,

that came out
of nowhere.

And then they
did the mirror.

He felt like, he don't
know why Vince did that.

He felt like he was
being set up for failure.

And then he was right.
He called it.

As Doink The Clown rules
the WrestleMania ring,

the inner struggles of
Matt Borne will soon

bring his turn in the
spotlight to an end,

even as Doink lives on.

As Matt Borne enjoys the
highest levels of

wrestling fame, his demons
threaten to destroy

everything he's
worked to create.

There were times when he
would take off, go somewhere.

Didn't see him for
three or four days.

It happened a lot.

He was fired
for drug abuse.

He tested dirty and
Vince let him go.

Matt tried to blame
everyone else

except himself
for that, but...

I, I wasn't surprised.

As he would tell it,
he lost his job and

I left him because
he no longer had his job,

but that wasn't
the case.

He started to get really...

angry, and drank
a lot more.

Seemed to be going
out a lot more.

And, I did know he was
doing, doing a lot of coke.

He became very physically
abusive to me...

and my daughter.

He was sitting on the couch-
he was a smoker,

and he was just complaining
and bitching and, you know,

about this and that, and then
he would just take cigarettes

and he was throwing these
cigarettes, lit cigarettes,

at me, you know, and...

came over and he grabbed me
and pulled me off the chair-

with my daughter
in my arms.

She was only a
couple months old.

She went flying,
and that's when I knew,

I can't do this, and I
can't do this to her.

And, I packed her up,
both on our back.

One bag,
and drove off.

I tell people the story
and they're like,

"What? Really?
You were what?

You were married to who?"
[Laughing] A lot of people,

when you tell them that,
they're impressed.

And it's like, no,
don't be impressed.

It's not a good story.
Not a good story at all.

I mean,
he literally had a

million-dollar home
being built.

They had just
moved into it.

He had his bathtub engraved
with 18-karat gold, "Doink".

He was still proud of Doink,
but he really struggled.

At the end of the day, I know
deep down it killed him

because he knew
he was good,

and it got fucked up
over drugs.

The day he went home,
as he got fired,

he said he stayed up for
eight days straight and did

nonstop coke, and started
hallucinating because

he couldn't believe he lost
everything he just gained.

Though Matt Borne
has been fired,

the character of
Doink The Clown

makes his return at the
very next show.

Only this time, there's
another wrestler

under the grease paint.

A character cannot usually
be readily replaced.

But in this case, I think the
sentiment was he's a clown.

We'll put someone else in
the exact same makeup,

and it was successful as
portrayed by Steve Keirn,

and later by Ray Apollo.

But it was, ah, it was never
as good as it was

when Matt wore the paint.

They figured since Steve
did this with Matt,

that maybe he
could pull it off.

Then they brought Dink,

'cause they were trying
to keep it alive.

I mean, Doink The Clown
and Dink,

they were mainstays.

You can stick anybody
in a Doink suit,

and it's a great
character that way.

So, Matt came and gone,
and a lot of folks

don't even realize he
came and gone.

And that's
when he went...

way down.

How he came to Ellwood City,
I don't know 'cause

it's such a small town,
but it was meant to be.

That's where
he met my mom.

He worked for the
telemarketing company

right around the corner.

He went from a millionaire
to us, you know,

like just making a
weekly cheque and...

it didn't work
with him up there.

He had some issues,
you know,

with his alcohol
and his drug addiction,

which he didn't do
in front of me,

but I still knew there
was something

weird about him, right.

You know, he paid the rent,
he paid the bills.

He didn't want me working,
he didn't want me socializing.

Not too many men talked
to me, put it that way.

And that's the way
Matt wanted it.

He knew what
he was doing.

One night we were at a bar,
and my ex-boyfriend ended up

walking in and came up and
spit on me for some reason.

And I saw Matt
coming at him,

and I'm like, "Dude,
you need to run."

Well, Matt picked him up
by his earlobes.

Legit, earlobes,
off the ground.

And was screaming
in his face,

spitting all over him
'cause he didn't have

his two teeth here.

The guy went out,
got in his car.

Matt had the back of
his car lifted up.

The two wheels off the
ground, spinning like crazy.

And he's holding
the car there.

And the cops came.

They maced him,
tased him.

I'm like, "Might want to
shoot him in the leg.

He's not gonna stop." So then
they put him in jail and,

he kept telling 'em, "Take
your badge and your guns off,

fight me like a man."
And that's when

he ripped the sink out
in the jail cell.

Like, literally ripped it
out of its plumbing.

Stripped of the beloved
character he brought to life,

Matt returns to the
wrestling business,

but the business
has changed.

Nobody wanted
Maniac Matt Borne.

Nobody wanted Big Josh
the lumberjack.

They all wanted Doink.

I mean, he still
had the costume,

and he knew how to
put the makeup on.

He could do it himself.

Matt even takes his Doink
character to the last place

anyone would expect a clown,
the violent renegade company

known as Extreme
Championship Wrestling.

This is ECW!

That clown is in
the wrong place.

I was in ECW when
Matt Borne came in.

And it was effective
because on the surface,

ECW fans hated it because
it was Doink The Clown.

This is ECW!

But underneath that hatred,
there was that level of

respect because
he was Matt Borne.

How does it feel
to live in my hell?

[Maniacal laughing]

I think the Borne Again
gimmick was half clown,

half Matt Borne.

Vince McMahon found out
he was on all these

independent
promoters' cards-

'cause it was his
copyright, it was.

So, Vince McMahon
sent legal papers.

Midwest Territorial
Wrestling!

Ha-ha!
It's the best!

Ooh-ooh!

So, Vince was like,
"Alright, that's fair.

But you can't use Doink,

and you get your residuals
every month."

As Matt struggles to
rebuild his career,

his home life is upended
by the arrival of

two more children.

I can remember when
Tegan was born.

He looked at her and he
looked at me, and he said,

"She's gonna be
something someday."

And he adored her.

And of course, his boy,
my son, Matthew,

he adored him too.

Because that was
his second chance.

He had two other kids.

He didn't get to see them,
he didn't get to raise them.

But me and him, when we
ended up having two kids,

they were his life.

I just try to remember
the good times.

And when he was clean,

he was a completely
different human being.

I mean, he was
so put together,

has nothing
negative to say.

I mean,
he was my dad.

I think he thought, "I gotta
bring myself back because

I'm not myself anymore."

Like, "I'm a wrestler,
that's what I do."

Though striving to reclaim
his glory in the wrestling

industry, Matt's battles
with addiction continue to

threaten his aspirations.

Though Matt struggles to be
a good father and family man,

his ongoing issues with
drugs and alcohol

make him unpredictable
and dangerous.

He went and got
clean a few times,

and I stood by his
side the whole time,

because everybody else
just washed him away

like he was nothing.

If he was on too much
drugs or too much alcohol,

he would just get very
violent, mean, and be crazy.

I could be upstairs sleeping
with my son, he'd be like,

"Why were you out tonight
with so-and-so?"

I'm like, "What?" I thought,
this guy needs help.

Like, I just can't turn
my back on him.

He got me one time,
super good.

He went to the gym-
he would go to the gym

for like two,
three hours a day.

So, I was just reading the
newspaper on our couch.

He walked up the steps,

accused me of
cheating on him.

The next I know,
I'm in the hospital.

He beat me up real good.

I couldn't see for two weeks.

My eyeballs were shut,
he broke my nose.

And yes, you're
probably gonna say,

"Why did you go
back with him?"

Down in my heart, like the
next day he saw me-

after he got out of jail-
he was like,

"What happened
to your face?

Did I do that?" He literally
don't remember any of it.

He said, "I am truly,
truly sorry."

And I forgave him.

As Matt's drug use
becomes even more extreme,

his downward
spiral intensifies.

Him and my mom fought.

You know,
he loved to drink.

And when he drank, he said
some really F'd up shit.

Finally, one day,
I don't know what it was...

I grabbed both
their hands, I said,

"Matt, I can't
do this anymore.

I have been here through
thick and thin with you."

I said, "I'm not taking
anything with me.

I am done."

She hurried up,
packed the bag.

She was scared. I remember
her being so scared.

And I walked out the door
and he didn't come after me,

'cause I thought
he was going to.

I thought, Jesus, if this
is gonna be the day,

he's gonna kill me.

And he went, "I understand,"
and he let me go.

It takes a lot of balls to
leave somebody like that when

they don't have the ability
to get clean or get better.

Strung out and landing
at rock bottom,

Matt's behaviour in the
ring becomes as

unpredictable as his
behaviour at home.

When Matt didn't like you,
it was a wrap.

And he's not gonna
let it go, like,

he's that type of person
to not let anything go.

We were up in White
Plains, New York.

I look at the board and
I'm working with Matt.

I go, "Cool," you know,
"Hey, Matt, how's it going?"

He goes, "Well,
Hacksaw,

how about I come out,
I hit you with a chair?

You hit me with a 2x4."
I'm like,

"Matt, there's 100 people
out there, brother.

I'll come out,
I'll cheer USA,

we'll have a nice
walk and talk."

Jim had something he did that
was, and still is, effective.

And Matt wanted more.

It just so happens that
my opponent tonight,

we go way, way,
way, way back.

Long story short,
we're in the ring,

and he gave me
a nut shot.

Alright, gentlemen!

Tried to hurt me.

Hacksaw's going to work!

It's a shoot.
[Laughing]

So I rolled up,
I pushed him in the corner.

And I'm asking him,
"Do you wanna work

or you wanna shoot,
brother?"

Let's go!
You wanna work?

-Wanna fight?
-You want to work?

He rolls out of the ring
and grabs a chair.

I got my 2x4, so I tell the
referee, I said, you know,

"Tell him we'll finish it in
the dressing room

like you're supposed to do."

So, I wait, and I wait,
and I wait, no Matt.

He came out of the ring,
went right out the fire exit,

got in his car and left.

It was a
pre-planned attack.

You have to make
a real attempt

at not liking Hacksaw
Jim Duggan.

He's not a divisive
personality in our business,

like everybody likes...
[Laughing]

Jim Duggan,
like... [Laughing]

You know, for him to make
that move, what, 30 years?

[Laughing]
After the incident.

That's carrying a grudge.

By 2013, Matt has
moved to Plano, Texas,

where he lives with
a new girlfriend.

I met Matt in
1988, '89.

And, I was actually
Mean Nurse Kratchet.

Here comes Nurse Kratchet.

So, I would just, you know,
bing him with my bed pan,

knock him out.
[Laughing]

Hi, my name is
Connie Cook,

and I was Matt Borne's
girlfriend.

He was crazy,
I was crazy.

And, we just hit it off.

2011, he found me
on Facebook.

Then he just never
left my side.

I loved him and, I wanted
to make it work.

That's why I
moved to Texas.

Some days it was good.
Some days it wasn't.

After I moved to Texas, I was
stressing about my mom.

She was very sick.

And he took care
of my mom.

He'd cook for her, he gave
her her medicine.

I knew he had my back and,
I definitely had his.

It was June of 2013.

And, I was getting up
for softball practice.

My mom texts me and said,
"I think your dad's dead".

'Cause we saw it on TMZ.

My mom said she
called my dad's cellphone,

and Connie
answered the phone.

She was like crying
hysterically.

My mom said, "What the
fuck happened, Connie?"

I say, "Connie, do not
tell me he's dead."

I know Connie
killed my dad.

I will never not think
that she did it.

She took him away from me,
and I hate her for it.

At home in Ellwood,
Michelle and Tegan

are shocked to learn that
Matt has passed,

tragic news confirmed
by a phone call

with Matt's girlfriend,
Connie Cook.

I said, "Okay, so,
like what happened?"

She goes, "Well, he stole
all my mom's drugs."

And she said,
"Yeah, he's dead."

And I'm thinking,
"Oh, my God,

this wasn't in the cards.

How am I supposed to take
care of these kids?" Right?

They were
12 and 15.

Sorry, getting
emotional.

But, it changed everything
in our lives, everything.

The night before
my dad died,

my mom was on the
phone with him,

and he said, "Michelle,
I called you because

I'm leaving Connie."

He went, "I told the crazy
bitch I'm leaving her."

I said,
"Oh, Jesus Christ!"

We giggled, and then he
went, "Well, you know what,

if anything does happen
to me, Michelle,

don't let it go."
I said,

"Matt, what are
you talking about?

Why would you say that?"

He went, "Seriously,
just don't let it go."

The day that all
this happened,

he was moaning
in the kitchen.

And I was like, "What is
wrong with you?" "Nothing."

So, then, he does it again,
moans again.

And so he turned around
and falls to his knee,

and he grabbed my hand,
he goes, "Marry me."

I said, "Oh, my God,

you're really on my
nerve right now."

I think he may have been
having a heart attack and

he just wouldn't tell me.

And he wore glasses,
and so he was like,

"Connie, I can't
find my glasses."

So, I go retrace
his steps-

kitchen, my mom's
bedroom.

Well, I noticed that one of
the bottles was moved.

And I was like, "Matt,
that medicine

is from hospice."
I was like,

"We're gonna be
in trouble if you don't

tell me where those are."
And he said to me,

"Well, I guess I'll just go
to jail." And I was like,

"That's just crazy."

So, I go to bed and,
later on,

I don't even know
what time it was,

I hear somebody
beating on the door.

And, there's a
girl at the door.

She was like, "My brothers
found your husband

laying on the
ground outside.

They think he's dead."

It was like a gated community
kind of place where everybody

could see everything that's
going on in your life.

And, there was witnesses.

They saw him.
He was stumbling,

falling over air
conditioners.

He was bruised.

So, I heard sirens,
and I was like,

"Matt, you need to get up
because I think

someone's called the police
on you for being drunk

out here because they said
you were on the ground."

So, we get him
to his feet,

we set him down in the
recliner by the door.

At that time, I didn't
know he was OD'ing.

Well, I went in
and got in the bed,

and I could hear
him snoring.

So, I didn't think anything
was wrong with him

'cause he snored.

You were watching
him overdose,

and you did nothing!

If you saw someone puking
in their mouth and

gagging on it,
wouldn't you think

there was
something wrong?

According to Plano
police reports,

on the morning Matt died,
Connie awoke at 6:30 AM and

saw Matt gurgling and
foaming at the mouth.

After calling her friend,
Connie went back to bed.

At 9 AM, two and a half hours
after she first woke up,

Connie called 9-1-1.

That was like early
in the morning.

My alarm usually went
off 6 o'clock, 6:30.

I heard him all
night snoring,

but when I came
out the bedroom,

there's something
coming out of his nose,

and so I grabbed the rag
and I was like,

"Hey, what-
you need to get up.

That's nasty." And he was
making a different noise.

And so, I called my
friend in Tennessee,

and I leaned over the
counter and was

trying to let
her listen to it.

And I said, "Do you
hear that?" She said,

"Connie, that's a death
rattle." She was like,

"Hang up right now
and call 9-1-1."

It's not like I just left
him sitting there.

I mean, it might have
been 5 minutes until

I called my friend.
I didn't go back to bed.

No, they have that wrong.
I didn't go back to bed.

As soon as I hung up talking
to her, I called 9-1-1.

And they snatched him up
and put him on the gurney,

trying to get the
thing down his throat,

and they were like,
"We gotta go now."

I mean, dude was on top
of him, pounding on him.

I'm just like- now I'm
really freaking out.

And then, the detective
came in and

I told her what I knew.

We went in the room,
she found the bottle.

I think there was maybe 30
missing out of the bottle,

so I don't know how many
he actually had taken.

And so, I left and went
to the hospital, and...

went and saw him,
and...

[Sighing]

So, I'm screaming at
Matt to get up.

And then they were trying
to make me leave.

And I literally wouldn't
leave the room

because they were trying
to put him in the dark,

and Matt hated the dark.

Overdose of hydrocodone
and morphine.

And an enlarged heart.

Connie believes Matt's heart
issues were a secret

he had kept for a
very long time.

When he was in WWF,
he went to the hospital

'cause he was having,
I guess, chest pains.

And so, they hooked him
up to a EKG machine.

I think they wanted to do
something, but Matt never did.

And then, when he
passed away,

I called the coroner's
office to find out exactly,

you know,
what they found out.

His heart was six times the
normal size, and I was like,

"What does that mean?"
They were like,

"Substance abuse, stress."

I think he
worried about it,

but he just didn't
tell nobody about it.

I called the ambulance when
I realized that there was

something wrong with him.
I did everything to help him.

With his backstory,

he has a track record for
being on drugs.

On his death certificate
it was accidental overdose.

Of course, it's easy
to put that down

because of who he was.
But, no.

When I hung up with him,

she was about to bring
him out a drink.

He probably got
a thing of Crown.

She mixed some liquid
morphine in there and

he's probably fucked up
out of his mind and,

he sat on the recliner.

He laid there and
died all night.

He was foaming
out the mouth.

I'm confused.

Why'd you wait all
night to call 9-1-1?

There was foul play.

I'm just, I'm just
flabbergasted that

someone would even
think that of me.

I feel horrible!

I'm horrified that that
child would think that.

The allegations are crazy.
They're not true.

I did not kill him. I did not
put anything in his drink.

I love him. I still
love him to this day!

And still wish
that he was here.

Why would I want
to kill him?

And if it meant me dying and
leaving here for him

to be alive, I would be dead,
and he would be here.

An investigation by the
Plano Police Department

found no evidence of any
criminal conduct,

no evidence that Matt Borne
was deliberately drugged with

liquid morphine
by Connie Cook,

and no evidence of
negligence in her

response to
Matt Borne's overdose.

On June 28th, 2013,
Matt Borne,

known to wrestling fans
as Doink The Clown, dies.

According to the autopsy,

it was from an
overdose of opiates.

I remember that
day very vividly,

going into that
funeral home and...

my brother, like, that was
his first funeral ever.

He was like, "Why is he
so cold?" And, I lost it.

I mean it was-
that was really tough.

The worst thing of all this
was watching them

to look over their
dad in that casket.

And there was nothing I
could do- a hug, a kiss,

nothing- that I could
take away their pain.

You know, I'm not
gonna lie to you.

It's been,
it's been terrible.

I mean, I struggled with
depression for a little bit.

I lost a lot of friends.

And I kind of felt like
my dad in that moment,

now that I look back at it,
he lost so many people

because of his actions,
and it was like, damn,

now I know how
this dude felt.

No wonder why
he did drugs,

'cause he felt
like shit all the time.

♪

I heard comments that people
have made about me, you know,

that the reason I got Doink
over is because I'm a sick

motherfucker that needs
some serious help.

There's times I think
that too, you know,

but who isn't, you know?
I mean, come on.

I'm not getting into the
ring with some jabroni that

puts on some clown outfit
and calls himself Doink.

It's Matt Borne.

Matt lived fast
and hard, and so,

it did not come as a shock
when I learned that

Matt had passed.

He seemed to have a
lot going for him.

Come on, tough guy!

But ultimately,
Matt's biggest adversary

was not a wrestler,
but his demons,

from a substance standpoint,

and the temperament
issue he struggled with.

His legacy is of a guy who
willingly gave more to the

wrestling business
than it gave back.

-Yeah!
-Oh!

And a guy whose weaknesses
were exploited by

the nature of the beast-
constant travel,

the strain on relationships,
the pain involved that

opens the door
to medication.

Matt Borne meant a
lot to wrestling,

and to anyone who
saw Matt at his best,

which was not in the
national spotlight,

but in those
regional territories.

And Borne throws him back!

He connected, and he
made a difference.

This picture is actually

two weeks before
Matt passed,

with his son, Matthew,
at the airport, leaving.

Very sad.

Yeah, Matthew was always
sad when Dad left.

Yeah, it tore him up.

This picture's one of my
favourites 'cause it's one of

the last I got with him. But
this picture, he was like,

"Come on, Tee, we gotta get
one picture before I leave."

And I'm like, "Alright."
This is one of my favourites.

And his big hand's
back there too.

It looks like a spider,

but it's Dad's huge-ass
hand, so...

Sad to see him go.

This is all we
have left of him.

Yeah.

We all have these
troubled souls.

We're all troubled souls,
if we look at it honestly.

But Matt had,
had talent.

Matt had a legacy.

He made Doink The Clown
bigger than it

ever should have been,
in my opinion.

And, that gets covered up by
some of his transgressions

outside of the ring.

From time to time, when
Matt had a few drinks,

he would open up
about the pain of...

being an absentee dad.

And I really think
that bothered Matt.

Yeah, he had a lot of
regrets about marriages,

about his kids.

And I seen that,
firsthand.

I never gave up on him
through all that bad stuff

we did go through.

I knew he was
a good person.

The horrible things that my
kids read about their dad,

oh, just, "Doink
was a drug addict,

he was a piece of shit,
washed up wrestler,"

that he was not that.

Yes, he did do his
share of drugs,

and he did make mistakes just
like every other human being.

But, I just want people
to know that

that's not what he was.

I want him to be remembered
as a great father.

He wanted to raise
those two kids.

♪

I miss him,
not gonna lie.

But they miss him way more.

One thing my mom always
told me, she's like,

"Well, Tegan, when you
were born, your dad said,

'She's gonna be
something someday'."

And every time
my mom says that,

it makes me feel like he's
still here a little bit,

and I'm like,
I mean, I'm not no

Doink The Clown,
I'm not no famous wrestler,

but when I graduated college,
I graduated with almost a 4.0.

I graduated
magna cum laude.

Took these CPA exams
that were so hard,

and got a job right
out of college.

I'm a certified
public accountant.

And then you just get the
little negative part where

I'm like, damn, like,
he should be here.

We had our little
rough patches.

We butted heads, and now
that I'm getting older,

I realize we butted heads
so much because

we were so much alike.

And now I wish I could just
say, "You know what, Dad,

I'm sorry." Wasn't perfect,
but he was my dad, so...