Opinions on this guy ...

[Karl Kox]

Doink The Clown. When he first entered WWE and it was Matt Borne ( good worker BTW ) i liked the gimmick and thought he was a good heel. When he turned face and other people ( Steve Keirn, Steve Lombardi) started doing the gimmick I thought it was boring.

[funk51]

correct

[Montague]

I honestly don't think that gimmick was originally meant to be cheesy.
I believe that's why they gave it to Borne, who DID a remarkable job of portraying a psychopathic clown somewhat reminiscent of Batman's Joker.
It would have been interesting to see what Borne would/could have done with the character during the Attitude years.

I don't know that the lameness of the character later on is more attributed to the face turn, or the men playing him, although I suspect a combination of both.
Perhaps Matt could have kept an edge to the character that was lost after the turn.
Or, maybe the office got exactly what they wanted in the portrayal: cheese aimed at kids.

I will say that Steve Lombardi could never have pulled it off the way Maniac Borne did in the beginning.
Lombardi couldn't get over turning on a light, and I easily believe the rumors of why he's had a job all these years.

[Andy Griffin]

I honestly don't think that gimmick was originally meant to be cheesy.
I believe that's why they gave it to Borne, who DID a remarkable job of portraying a psychopathic clown somewhat reminiscent of Batman's Joker.
It would have been interesting to see what Borne would/could have done with the character during the Attitude years.

I don't know that the lameness of the character later on is more attributed to the face turn, or the men playing him, although I suspect a combination of both.
Perhaps Matt could have kept an edge to the character that was lost after the turn.
Or, maybe the office got exactly what they wanted in the portrayal: cheese aimed at kids.

I will say that Steve Lombardi could never have pulled it off the way Maniac Borne did in the beginning.
Lombardi couldn't get over turning on a light, and I easily believe the rumors of why he's had a job all these years.

The face turn and "Dink"