It was a great idea, and I can see why he wanted it for himself.
Yes, it’s an exercise of ego & backstage power, but the character’s success certainly made it seem reasonable for Borden to use it himself rather than on a temporary gimmick to get his (former) character over.
He stayed over by assuming the Crow gimmick.
If he’d stayed the blonde bomber, he would have grown stale again (probably quickly) and soon needed something else to refresh his character.