#darksideofthering #docuseries #documentary #realstories
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I
00:06Might have a little surprise for you tonight Matt Bourne was a terrifying clown
00:13Vince McMahon got this gimmick doing
00:16and he's like, oh, I know the perfect person to do this and
00:20He told Matt you're gonna make this character work for me. And I mean look what he did. Why make children cry?
00:27What does that get you?
00:30Matt wasn't maniac maniac Matt was a very fitting name
00:35Matt
00:38He fired up brother, but he was solid
00:42Before putting on the clown suit Matt Bourne was a second generation wrestler with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove
00:49Yes, baby. That's right
00:51But despite his success as one of the wwf's most iconic stars matt's bad decisions and bad habits would continue
00:58To haunt him. Everybody has problems out there in the real world. It's no different in the world
01:04The professional wrestling I could just see him in the back having a cigarette like crusty. Oh, yeah
01:10I whooped his ass didn't I there's no silver lining here
01:13Does demons get the best of them and it was just all downhill when he did drugs. He was completely different human being
01:21He liked oxys. He liked steroids. He liked cocaine
01:24And I didn't even know he was on crack a clown in the ring whose violent tendencies ran deeper than the grease paint
01:31When you see a headline about doink the clown being on drugs fighting you just think he's a terrible person
01:38I tried to make him realize that you don't have to do drugs. You don't have to get violent
01:42We all know you're tough just be you because I did though
01:46And in the end his tragic death would leave some still looking for answers
01:51Nobody wants to believe that it was an accident. I don't believe it. There was 110 foul play
01:58So
02:24God every time I put this on I just
02:27It's weird I get these mixed feelings about it, you know, I love it, you know, I mean
02:33At one time I thought I had the best job in the world
02:37Bad thing about it was I was pretty ignorant. I thought man. This is the way it's gonna be, you know, I've done this and
02:45Nothing's forever. Definitely not this character, right?
02:48So
02:56I mean this is the biggest crowd in history 1.2 million. Nobody wants to lose in front of that many people
03:02Let's go up to hard at the very first wrestlemania. Do you know who fought ricky steamboat? It was my dad, wasn't it?
03:08Yeah, I watched it. It was phenomenal
03:10from portland, oregon
03:13matt born
03:14Matt born looks in good shape himself. You know, he's a second generation wrestler
03:19He just no no offense to steamboat like he was obviously good
03:22But my dad just killed it like the way he hit the ropes the way he hit the floor
03:28Like I actually believe that they beat each other up. Matt born is not done yet
03:33My dad loved his job. He didn't just do it to be famous
03:37He actually loved what he did and he was so freaking good at it
03:41My name is steegan osborne and i'm the daughter of matt osborne
03:53I actually met matt in
03:5693 in elwood city. He had just gotten fired from wwe
04:01Um, he definitely looked
04:03Rough looked like he partied a lot put it that way and when I first met him
04:08He's like i'm doing the clown i'm like, what do you go to kids's birthday parties or and he's like, uh
04:15For a wrestler and i'm like, yeah, that shit's all fake
04:20But matt just made it look so real to me
04:26My name is michelle james and I was married to matt osborne
04:31Until well until his death we weren't together, but we were friends and we have two kids
04:38You know the other women that married him married him obviously for the money
04:41I didn't like I I loved this man. I really did
04:45He was 37. I was 21
04:48So my first impressions were wow, this guy's old, but he was still good at it. Here's
04:55Matt was hugely influential
04:57Not just to me, but by extension anyone who ever saw
05:02My work and liked it
05:04He's in a way admiring the work of matt bourne, my name is mick foley i'm a three-time
05:10wwe champion
05:12Known as the hardcore legend and matt bourne was a colleague and friend of mine
05:17I saw in him what I hoped to one day be you don't just play a character you inhabit the character
05:24You had to believe it yourself
05:26He was a second generation wrestler that respect had been instilled in him by his dad tough. Tony bourne
05:33Tony was quite content with being a portland wrestler and he was proud of it until this day if you say tough
05:39Tony bourne
05:40Everybody in oregon knows who he is
05:42Matt grew up with his dad actually because his mom and dad divorced when he was 10
05:47He remembers the day they split up his mom said you go with your dad because I don't want that little bastard
05:54And that stayed in matt's head probably till the day he died
05:58He had so much anger in him and passion in him I would consider him similar to the incredible hulk
06:04Yes, like that was just my dad
06:06He was six six one. He was just thick
06:10His hands were thick his neck was thick everything about my dad was just bigger
06:15I don't know whether his dad's legacy helped or hindered matt, but it was a pretty big name to live up to
06:23It's difficult being the child of a wrestler i'll be honest with you
06:27It's been easy being your son being the son of tough. Tony bourne
06:31Okay, we got dad and his dad tough. Tony bourne and matt bourne
06:36Yeah, two legends that are no longer here. But this is one of my favorite pictures because he just looks happy
06:43Matt was solid. He was of an era where you laid it in and you made people believe
06:51Matt made you work in the ring the term that's coming to my mind is whirling dervish
06:57He sold
06:59pain differently
07:01And he was in constant motion
07:05Well, I certainly think matt's father had an influence on making matt tough
07:12My name is dr. Tom pritchard and I first met matt bourne in the early 1980s. Tommy pritchard
07:20Matt could be abrasive. He could be
07:24confrontation
07:26He could be
07:28out of his mind
07:29We were both young in the business back then but matt had grown up and he learned a lot of it through his father
07:34But his father came up through the ranks where these guys were even more insane. So matt's
07:41learning from his dad how to handle conflict and
07:44Not everybody would appreciate that. Well, I don't think any father could be any prouder of his son than I am of mine
07:51After establishing himself in portland matt begins a tour of the territories that make up the wrestling world
07:57Building a name and reputation across the country
08:01Matt bourne did the regional territories
08:04Introducing matt bourne and he got over everywhere. He did he got over in portland tony bourne and matt bourne
08:11He got over in texas
08:15He got over in carolinas
08:17Well, first off I gotta say matt bourne and I from the time I met him did not get along
08:22He was a bully in my opinion. Oh
08:25Hey folks, i'm wwe hall of famer. Hex saw jim duggan from the golden age of wrestling
08:36Mid-south at that time was a snake pit of tough guys and back then six-man tags were pretty big
08:42The free birds were really really hot. Of course the von erichs were hot
08:46So bill watts decided to put together a six-man tag
08:50And of course he had two second generation guys with matt bourne
08:54And db ossi and he obviously saw something in me and put me with those guys who were already pretty established
09:01And formed the rat pack one for all off one. We're the rat pack man
09:05Every night you're throwing punches you're blocking punches. You're getting potatoed
09:09We weren't the baby face heels or the crybaby heels we were the kick butt heels
09:14It's busted loose again. All three were incredible performers incredible workers
09:20Though they didn't have a chance against us
09:23Matt seemed to have a lot going for him, but he was always
09:28Fighting those demons this born is a very aggressive. Oh beautiful suplex
09:34I only knew matt bourne
09:36Through reputation. Hi, this would be brian blair retired professional wrestler. I
09:42Heard that matt was a product of the portland territory. That's about all I knew about matt until
09:49We had met in this bar
09:52The place was packed full of the boys and matt comes up to me matt bourne
09:56Now he's new in the territory and he comes up to me and he says hey, why are you messing with my girl?
10:01I looked at matt and I said i'm not messing with your girl matt
10:05I don't I don't have a girlfriend here. I I don't know what you're talking about
10:09and he seemed like he was a little you know jacked up, you know, just
10:13Very big eyes and I kind of think that matt wanted to establish himself as a tough guy
10:18And he thought that I was going to be the guy that he was going to
10:22establish himself on
10:24So all of a sudden I turn around and boom matt hits me from behind and he goes to suplex me
10:30And when he did I turned in midair and landed on top of him and when I was on top of matt
10:36He grabbed my ears and he's pulling my head down
10:40He's got his teeth wide open. I can still see his teeth, you know, he's
10:45Getting ready to bite my nose and as he goes to bite my nose, I saw his lip sticking out
10:51So I went down and bit his bottom lip right off and spit his lip off
10:56And so i'm on top of him and you know punch him and he's like a zombie and I thought it was over
11:04A few minutes later. Um, he comes back jumps on me again
11:09I wind up beating him up really good this time. I mean I hammered this guy how he ever got up
11:15I don't know. He was live. I mean all the way live
11:18This is was unhuman and a little while goes by now and people are buying me drinks and they're laughing and all of a sudden
11:26I can't believe it freaking matt jumps on me again
11:29He's all bandaged up this time as i'm trying to drag him towards the door
11:35He hooked my right leg somehow and I fell forward and as I fell forward
11:41I felt him on my back and then I felt a
11:45hand like reaching for my
11:47eyeball
11:50And there's ivan koloff right at the doorway and
11:54Ivan kicked matt's hand and said no eyes, which i'm very grateful for because
11:59Matt could have pulled my eyeball out. I mean he was like
12:04Electricity he was bleeding all over the place from his eyes from his nose from his mouth
12:08I guess if you have the right drugs in you, they can obviously make you superhuman because that was not a human
12:16Matt's violent behavior outside the ring is already causing problems with his co-workers
12:22But an incident at ringside will bring his time in the rat pack to an end
12:27Matt born would rather get in there and kick somebody in the teeth as a man who has been well schooled
12:32It was monroe louisiana coming out of the ring and again, i'm 280 pounds. I'm jacked up
12:37I'm pushing 505 on the bench. I'm blowing up. I'm blowing snot and steam and sweat. I'm coming out of the ring
12:43I just got done kicking butt i'm going through the crowd
12:47Boom, I get popped we were bad guys people didn't like us back then brother
12:52They hated us, you know, boom. I popped the guy right back. He went down
12:56I kept on going but when he went down matt put a boot to him broke his right front orbital lobe
13:05I kicked him so hard his eyeball fell out
13:14So
13:16Following a match in monroe louisiana matt born takes an altercation with a fan in the crowd too far
13:24Uh, so the guy he sued me he sued matt and he sued the company
13:29I and I asked him I said do you got a gel?
13:32He was like no, I didn't get in trouble at all
13:34Matt got fired duggan was kept and I think that's where the hard feelings might have come out on matt's side
13:40Um bill watts used me as an example, this is how you take care of the business, you know, and I was gone, you know
13:47All of a sudden I was a bad guy
13:49Though matt leaves mid-south under a cloud his talent and connections land him a job with the world wrestling federation
13:57But less than a year into his contract he's fired once again this time for drug use
14:02I don't think matt ever wrestled sober
14:05He was always snorting coke. I mean he'd have to start his day smoking weed
14:10Maybe sometimes pain pills if he had them, I think it's the lifestyle, you know, they they would go out and drink
14:16Well that would lead to this. Oh, let's try that
14:20In spite of the setback matt lands on his feet again as he's hired by ted turner's world championship wrestling
14:26And given a gimmick inspired by his northwest roots
14:30Big josh was a lumberjack. That was his character. It was kind of a bad guy, but yet in a sweet way
14:37My name is maria and I am matt born's ex-wife from way back when
14:42I was with a friend of mine and we were at a match
14:45And matt evidently sent one of the security guys out to get me said he wanted to meet me
14:50So I went back and he introduced himself and invited my girlfriend and I out for a drink
14:57He seemed nice. He was very cordial. It was pretty fast
15:01It was probably within about three months that he asked me to move down
15:05So I quit my job and I moved and you know, I want I want the whole thing
15:09I want the wife the kids things like that. What was matt's emotional state when like his first daughter was born?
15:16I was to be induced. Um in the hospital, so I had an appointment to go in at 10 30 in the morning
15:22Matt went out the night before and never came home. He showed up just before my daughter was born
15:28Hi
15:29little drunk
15:31But he showed up
15:32When he was with wcw he had an offer from vince mcmahon
15:36So he took that job with a second chance at the wwf matt lands yet another opportunity to reinvent himself
15:44From what I understand they created doink together
15:48Doink was a clown
15:51Doink was a crazy looking clown
15:54green hair
15:55When I first heard of how doink the clown came about
15:59I thought it made perfect sense because hawk from from the road warriors was looking at matt because matt, you know
16:05Smoking a cigarette after his max boot half unlaced his hair all a mess and he's sweating and it's like you got her own crusty
16:11over there
16:13Krusty the clown
16:14I could pull a better cartoon out of my head
16:17Hey, whoa, that's not what I would think of an ideal character for a rustler, but uh seemed to take off pretty good
16:24As far as technical rustling is concerned knowing holds knowing counters and what have you doink is right up there with the best of
16:32Doink the clown considered one of the greats but why dress up in this ridiculous looking outfit?
16:36What does that get you? I think the little ones were scared like this evil, but happy clown
16:41Demented clown. I mean a demented clown ought to be kind of a skunky son of a bitch, you know
16:47I mean i've been around enough guys in the wrestling business that I know how to portray that
16:51I can't criticize anybody with a two by four and a hole
16:56Whatever works, I mean and doink got over pretty good as soon as I heard that matt bourne was going to wwe
17:04Not as a clown, but as an evil clown. I thought he's going to sink his teeth into this
17:10Doink the clown having fun if they don't have a sense of humor. That's their problem if I laugh that's all that matters
17:17It was the best character he ever did doink was his favorite my dad was just goofy
17:22He looked scary, but he was like a big goofy teddy bear
17:26So that also probably helped him do doink because I see some of that when he wrestles and i'm like damn like that
17:32I don't think that's doink. I think that's my dad
17:34And he would just look in the mirror and kind of practice saying this and saying that I am no more
17:40than an instrument of nature
17:43a product of my environment
17:45It was a gimmick, but matt breathed life into this gimmick
17:50I did not like a lot of what wwe was doing at that time, but I did like doing the clown
17:59Well, by god, I may be a clown but i'm gonna rub your face in the mat
18:04I'm gonna beat you up and it's gonna be funny to me
18:11Wrestlemania 9 it was freaking phenomenal
18:15Doink is wrestling doink the clown. He's losing
18:17He keeps trying to go underneath the stage and all of a sudden this other doink the clown pops up
18:25They beat the shit out of crush at the end and i'm like, holy shit like that came out of nowhere
18:29And then they did the mirror
18:31He felt like he don't know why vince did that. He felt like he was being set up for failure
18:37Man, he was right though
18:39He called it
18:41As doink the clown rules the wrestlemania ring the inner struggles of matt bourne will soon bring his turn in the spotlight to an end
18:48even as doink lives on
18:57As matt bourne enjoys the highest levels of wrestling fame his demons threaten to destroy everything he's worked to create
19:04There were times when
19:06He would take off go somewhere didn't see him three or four days
19:11It happened a lot
19:13He was fired for drug abuse. He tested dirty and
19:17Vince let him go matt tried to blame everyone else except himself for that. But I
19:24I wasn't surprised we're staying in boston and smoking some weed in the hotel and uh, I was fired
19:32Period why was I doing the drugs? That's what I did. That's what addicts do
19:37As 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
19:45He started to get
19:47really, um
19:48Angry and drank a lot more seemed to be going out a lot more and I I did know he was doing
19:54Doing a lot of coke became very physically abusive to me
19:58And my daughter, um, he was sitting on the couch
20:01He was a smoker and he was just complaining and bitching and you know about this and that and then he would just take cigarettes
20:08And he was throwing these cigarettes lit cigarettes at me
20:11You know and he came over and he grabbed me and pulled me off the chair with my daughter in my arm
20:16She was only a couple months old
20:18She went flying and that's when I knew I can't do this and I can't do this to her
20:22And I packed her up clothes on her back one bag and drove off
20:27I tell people the story and they're like what really you you were what you were married to who?
20:33A lot of people when you tell them that they're impressed and it's like, you know, don't be impressed
20:37It's not a good story. Not a good story at all
20:41I mean, he literally had a million dollar home being built. They had just moved into it
20:46He had his bathtub engraved with 18 karat gold doink
20:50He was still proud of doink, but he really struggled at the end of the day
20:54I know deep down it it killed him because he knew he was good and he got up over drugs
20:59The day he went home as he got fired. He said he stayed up for eight days straight
21:05And did non-stop coke and started hallucinating
21:09because
21:10He couldn't believe he lost everything he just gained
21:14Though matt bourne has been fired the character of doink the clown makes his return at the very next show
21:20Only this time there's another wrestler under the grease paint
21:24A character cannot usually be readily replaced
21:28But in this case, I think the sentiment was he's a clown
21:31We'll put someone else in the exact same makeup
21:34and it was successful as portrayed by steve kern and later by ray apollo, but it was
21:40Ah, it was never as good as it was when matt wore the paint
21:44They figured since steve did this with matt that maybe he could pull it off then they brought dink
21:51Because they were trying to keep it alive
21:53I mean doink the clown and dink they were mainstays
21:57You can stick anybody in a doink suit and it's a great character that way
22:01So matt came and gone and a lot of folks don't even realize he came and gone. That's when he went
22:07way down
22:08How he came to elwood city
22:10I don't know because it's such a small town, but it was meant to be that's where he met my mom
22:15He worked for the telemarketing company right around the corner. He went from a millionaire to us, you know, like just
22:22Making a weekly check and it didn't work with him up there
22:28He had some issues, you know with his alcohol and his drug addiction, which he didn't do in front of me
22:34But I still knew there was something weird about him, right? You know, he paid the rent. He paid the bills
22:39He didn't want me working. He didn't want me
22:42Socializing not too many men talk to me put it that way and that's the way matt wanted it. He knew what he was doing
22:49One night we were at a bar and my ex-boyfriend ended up walking in and came up and spit on me for some reason
22:56And I saw matt coming at him and i'm like, dude, you need to run
23:00Well matt picked him up by his earlobes legit earlobes off the ground
23:04And was screaming in his face spitting all over him because he didn't have his two teeth here
23:08The guy went out got in his car matt had the back of his car lifted up
23:14The two wheels off the ground spinning like crazy and he's holding the car there
23:18And the cops came they maced them tased them. I'm like might want to shoot him in the leg. He's not gonna stop
23:26So then they'd put him in jail and he kept telling him take your badge and your guns off fight me like a man
23:32And that's when he ripped the sink out and the jail cell like literally ripped it out of its plumbing
23:38Stripped of the beloved character. He'd brought to life matt returns to the wrestling business, but the business has changed
23:46Nobody wanted maniac matt bourne. Nobody wanted big josh the lumberjack. They all wanted doink
23:51I mean, he still had the costume. He knew how to put the makeup on he could do it himself
23:56Matt even takes his doink character to the last place anyone would expect a clown the violent renegade company known as extreme
24:04championship wrestling this is ecw
24:07That clown is in the wrong place
24:10I was in ecw when matt bourne came in and it was effective because on the surface
24:16Ecw fans hated it because it was doink the clown
24:24But underneath that hatred there was that level of respect because he was matt bourne
24:36I think the born again gimmick was half
24:39clown half matt bourne
24:41Vince mcmahon found out he was on all these independent promoters cards because it was his copyright
24:48It was so vince mcmahon sent legal papers when we created that thing
24:53I had to sign the copyrights over to vince. You know, I was kind of bitter about it
24:57They had never sent me any residual money for all my dolls and videos and stuff, which I was supposed to get a piece of
25:04So I had countersuit him for my residuals
25:10It's the best
25:12So vince was like, all right
25:14That's fair, but you can't use doink and you get your residuals every month
25:19As matt struggles to rebuild his career. His home life is upended by the arrival of two more children
25:26I can remember when tegan was born
25:28He looked at her and he looked at me and he said she's gonna be something someday and he adored her
25:33And of course his boy my son
25:35Matthew um, he adored him too because that was his second chance. He had two other kids
25:41He didn't get to see them. He didn't get to raise them
25:44But me and him when we ended up having two kids, they were his life
25:49I just try to
25:50Remember the good times and when he was clean, he was a completely different human being. I mean he was so
25:57Put together has nothing negative to say
26:01I mean he was
26:02My 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
26:10Though striving to reclaim his glory in the wrestling industry matt's battles with addiction continue to threaten his aspirations
26:24Though matt struggles to be a good father and family man
26:27His ongoing issues with drugs and alcohol make him unpredictable
26:32and dangerous
26:33He went and got clean a few times and I stood by his side the whole time
26:38Because everybody else just washed him away like he was nothing if he was on too much drugs or too much alcohol
26:44He would just get very violent
26:47Mean and be crazy
26:49I could be upstairs sleeping with my son. He'd be like, why were you out tonight with so-and-so i'm like
26:56What
26:57I thought this guy needs help like I just can't turn my back on him. He got me one time
27:02Super good. He went to the gym. He would go to the gym for like two three hours a day
27:07So I was just reading a newspaper on our couch
27:10He walked up the steps accused me of cheating on him. The next I know i'm in the hospital
27:16He beat me up real good. I couldn't see for two weeks. My eyeballs were shut. He broke my nose
27:22And yes, you're probably gonna say why did you go back with him down in my heart like the next day he saw me
27:28After he got out of jail, he was like what happened to your face. Did I do that?
27:33He literally don't remember any of it. He said I am truly truly. Sorry
27:40And I forgave him
27:42As matt's drug use becomes even more extreme his downward spiral intensifies
27:48Him my mom fought, you know, he loved to drink and when he drank he said some really effed up shit
27:54Finally one day. I don't know what it was. I grabbed both their hands. I said matt. I can't do this anymore
28:00I have been here through thick and thin with you. I said i'm not taking anything with me. I am done
28:08She hurried up packed the bag. She was scared
28:10I remember her being so scared and I walked out the door and he didn't come after me because I thought he was going to
28:16I thought jesus if this is gonna be the day he's gonna kill me and he went I understand
28:22And he let me go
28:24It takes a lot of balls to leave somebody like that when they don't have the ability to get clean or get better
28:31Strung out and landing at rock bottom matt's behavior in the ring becomes as unpredictable as his behavior at home
28:39When 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
28:46Let anything go
28:48We're up in white plains, new york and they're looking at board. I'm working with matt. Oh cool. You know, hey matt
28:53How's it going? He goes. Well, actually, how about I come out I hit you with a chair
28:57You hit me with a two by four
28:59I'm, like matt. There's a hundred people out there brother. I'll come out. I'll cheer usa
29:04We'll have a nice walk and talk jim had something he did that was and still is effective and matt wanted more
29:11It just so happens
29:12That my opponent tonight
29:14We go way way way way back
29:18Long story short. We're in the ring and he gave me a nut shot. All right, gentlemen try to hurt me
29:26It's a shoot
29:28So I rolled up I push him in the corner and i'm asking me you want to work or you want to shoot brother?
29:37He rolls out of the ring and grabs a chair
29:39Well, I got my two by four so I tell the referee I said, you know
29:41Tell 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
29:47He came out of the ring went right out the fire exit got in his car and left
29:51It was pre-planned
29:53attack
29:54You have to make a real attempt
29:58At not liking hacksaw jim duck. He's not a divisive personality in our business like everybody looks
30:05at jim duck
30:07You know for him to make that move for 30 years
30:12after the incident
30:15That's carrying a grudge
30:17By 2013 matt has moved to plano, texas where he lives with a new girlfriend. I met matt in
30:251988-89
30:26And I was actually me nurse cratchett. Here comes nurse cratchett. I would just you know, bring him with my bedpan knock him out
30:37Hi, my name is connie cook and I was matt bourne's girlfriend
30:41He was crazy. I was crazy and we just hit it off
30:452011
30:47He found me on facebook. Then he just never left my side. I loved him and I wanted to make it work
30:53That's why I moved to texas
30:55Some days it was good. Some days it wouldn't
30:58After I moved to texas, I was stressing about my mom. She was very sick and he took care of my mom
31:03He cooked for her. He gave her her medicine. I knew he had my back and I definitely had his
31:11It was uh, june of 2013
31:13And I was getting up for softball practice. My mom texted me and said I think your dad's dead because we saw it on tmz
31:20My mom said she called my dad's cell phone and connie answered the phone. She was like crying hysterically
31:26My mom said what the f**k happened connie. I say connie do not
31:31Tell me he's dead
31:33I know connie killed my dad. I will never not think that she didn't she took him away from me and I
31:39Hate her for it
31:46At home in ellwood michelle and tegan are shocked to learn that matt has passed
31:51Tragic news confirmed by a phone call with matt's girlfriend. Connie cook
31:56I said, okay. So like what happened? She goes. Well, he stole all my mom's trucks
32:02And she said yeah, he's dead and i'm thinking oh my god, this wasn't in the cards
32:06How am I supposed to take care of these kids, right?
32:09They were 12 and 15
32:12Sorry getting emotional
32:14But it changed everything in our lives everything
32:19The night before my dad died my mom was on the phone with him and he said michelle
32:24I called you because i'm leaving connie. He went I told the crazy b**ch i'm leaving her. I said, oh jesus christ
32:30We giggled and then he went well, you know what if anything does happen to me michelle don't let it go
32:36I said matt. What are you talking about? Why did you say that?
32:39He went seriously just don't let it go
32:43The day that
32:45all this happened
32:47He was moaning in the kitchen and I was like what is wrong with you?
32:51Nothing. So then
32:53He does it again moans again. And so he turns around and falls to his knee and he grabbed my hand
32:58He goes marry me. I said, oh my god, you're really on my nerve right now
33:03I think he might have been having a heart attack and he just wouldn't tell me
33:07And he wore glasses and so he was like connie. I can't find my glasses
33:12So I go read tracy stapp's kitchen my mom's bedroom. Well, I noticed that one of the bottles was moved
33:21I was like matt that medicine
33:24Is 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
33:30Well, I guess i'll just go to jail and I was like, that's just crazy
33:35So I go to bed and later on I don't even know what time was I hear somebody beating on the door
33:40And 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
33:48It was like a gated community kind of place where everybody could see everything that's going on in your life
33:54And um, there was witnesses they saw him he was stumbling falling over air conditioners he was bruised
34:02So I heard sirens and I was like matt you need to get up because I think someone's called the police on you
34:08For being drunk out here because they said you were on the ground
34:11So we get him to his feet. We set him down in the recliner by the door that time. I didn't know he was ODing
34:17Well, I went in and got in the bed and I could hear him snoring
34:21So I didn't think anything was wrong with him because he snored
34:24You were watching him overdose and you did
34:28Nothing, if you saw someone puking in their mouth and gagging on it, wouldn't you think there was something wrong?
34:34According to plano police reports on the morning matt died connie awoke at 6 30 a.m
34:40And saw matt gurgling and foaming at the mouth after calling her friend connie went back to bed at 9 a.m
34:47Two and a half hours after she first woke up connie called 9-1-1
34:52We're gonna address really specifically some of these allegations
34:57That once matt was already in the house and you put him down in the recliner that you heard gurgling
35:02What did you do next? That was like early in the morning. My alarm usually went off six o'clock six thirty
35:09I heard him all night snoring but um when I came out of the bedroom
35:13There's something coming out of his nose. And so I grabbed the rag and I was like, hey
35:18What you need to get up you're that's nasty and he was making a fun different noise
35:23So I called my friend in tennessee
35:26And I leaned over the counter and was trying to let her listen to it. And I said, do you hear that?
35:30She said connie. That's a death rattle
35:33She was like hang up right now. I'm calling 9-1-1
35:36It's not like I just left him sitting there. I mean it might have been five minutes until I called my friend
35:42Uh, I didn't go back to bed
35:44Because it wasn't until nine
35:47That you called 9-1-1. No, they have that wrong. I didn't go back to bed as soon as I hung up talking to her
35:53I called 9-1-1
35:55And they snatched him up and put him on the gurney trying to get the thing down his throat
36:00And they were like we got to go now. I mean dude was on top of him pounding on him
36:04I'm, just like now i'm really freaking out and then the detective came in and I told her what I knew
36:10We went in the room. She found the bottle
36:12I think there was maybe 30 missing out of the bottle. So I don't know how many he actually
36:18had taken and so I left and went to the hospital and
36:21went and saw him and
36:26So i'm screaming at matt to get up
36:28And then they were trying to make me leave
36:30And I literally wouldn't leave the room because they were trying to put him in the dark
36:34And matt hated the dark
36:38What was the official cause of matt's death
36:41Overdose of um
36:43hydrocodone and morphine
36:46and an enlarged heart
36:47Connie believes matt's heart issues were a secret. He had kept for a very long time
36:53When he was in wwf he went to the hospital because he was having I guess chest pains
37:00And so they hooked him up to a ekg machine
37:03I think they wanted to do something but
37:06I matt never did
37:08And then um when he passed away, I called the um coroner's office to find out exactly, you know what they found out
37:16Um, his heart was six times the normal size and I was like, what does that mean? They were like substance abuse stress
37:23I think he worried about it, but he just didn't tell nobody about it
37:26I called the ambulance when I realized that there was something wrong with him. I did everything to help him
37:34With his backstory and he has a track record for being on drugs on his death certificate
37:40It was accidental overdose. Of course, it's easy to put that down because of who he was but no
37:45When I hung up with him, she was about to bring him out a drink. He probably got a thing of crown
37:50She mixed some liquid morphine in there and he's probably up out of his mind and he sat on the recliner
37:56He 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?
38:02There was foul play
38:04I'm, just I'm just flabbergasted that someone would even think that of me. I feel horrible
38:09I'm horrified that that child would think that the allegations are crazy. They're not true. I did not kill him
38:15I did not put anything in his drink. I love him. I still love him to this day
38:20And still wish that he was here
38:21Why would I want to kill him?
38:24And if it meant me dying and leaving here for him to be alive, I would be dead and he would be here
38:31An investigation by the Plano Police Department found no evidence of any criminal conduct
38:37No evidence that Matt Bourne was deliberately drugged with liquid morphine by Connie Cook
38:42And no evidence of negligence in her response to Matt Bourne's overdose
38:53On June 28, 2013, Matt Bourne known to wrestling fans as Doink the Clown dies
39:00According to the autopsy it was from an overdose of opiates
39:04I remember that day very vividly going into that funeral home and my brother like that was his first funeral ever
39:10He was like, why is he so cold? And I lost it. I mean it was that was that was really tough
39:15the worst thing of all this
39:18was watching them to look over their dad in that casket
39:24And there was nothing I could do a hug a kiss nothing that I could take away their pain
39:30You know, i'm not gonna lie to you. It's been it's been terrible. I mean I
39:34Struggled with depression for a little bit. I lost a lot of friends
39:37And I kind of felt like my dad in that moment now that I look back at it
39:40He lost so many people because of his actions and it was like damn now I know how this dude felt
39:45No wonder why he did drugs
39:47Because he felt like shit all the time
39:52I heard comments that people have made about me, you know
39:56The reason I got doink over is because i'm a sick mother. I need some serious help
40:00There's times I think that too, you know, but who is it?
40:04You know, I mean, come on
40:06You're not getting into the ring with some jabroni that puts on some clown outfit and calls himself doink
40:14It's a mad boy
40:15Matt lived fast and hard and so it did not come as a shock when I learned that matt had passed
40:24He seemed to have a lot going for him
40:28But ultimately matt's
40:30biggest adversary was not a wrestler, but
40:34his demons from a substance standpoint and the temperament issue
40:40he struggled with
40:43His legacy is of a guy who willingly gave more to the wrestling business than it gave back
40:50Yeah
40:52And a guy whose weaknesses were exploited by the nature of the beast
40:58constant travel the strain on relationships
41:01the pain involved that opens the door to
41:05Medication matt bourne meant a lot
41:08To wrestling and to anyone who saw matt at his best which was not in the national spotlight, but in those regional territories
41:16The thorn blows him back he connected and he made a difference
41:22This picture is actually two weeks before matt passed
41:27With his son matthew at the airport leaving
41:31Very sad. Yeah. Matthew was always sad when dad left. Yeah, it tore him up
41:34This picture is one of my favorites because it's one of the last I got with him
41:38But this picture he was like, come on t we got to get one picture before I leave and i'm like, all right
41:44This is one of my favorites and his big hands back there too. It looks like a spider but it's dad's huge ass hand
41:51Sad to see him go. This is all we have left of him. Yep
41:55We all have these troubled souls
41:57We're all troubled souls if we look at it, honestly, but matt had had talent matt had a legacy
42:03he made doink the clown bigger than it ever should have been in my opinion and
42:08That gets covered up by some of his transgressions outside the ring from time to time
42:14When matt had a few drinks
42:16He would open up
42:18about
42:19the pain of
42:21Being an absentee dad
42:22And I really think that bothered matt. Yeah, he had a lot of regrets about marriages about his kids
42:29And i've seen that firsthand. I never gave up on him through all that bad stuff. We did go through I knew
42:37He was a good person the horrible things that my kids read about their dad
42:42Oh just doink was a drug addict. He was a piece of shit washed up wrestler that he was not that
42:49Yes, he did do his share of drugs and he did make mistakes just like every other human being but
42:54I just want people to know that that's not what he was
42:58I want him to be remembered as a great father. He wanted to raise those two kids
43:05I miss them not gonna lie, but they miss them way more
43:10One thing my mom always told me she's like well tegan when you were born your dad said
43:14She'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
43:19Like I mean i'm not no doink the clown. I'm not no famous wrestler
43:23But when I graduated college, I graduated with almost a 4-0. I graduated magna cum laude took these cpa exams
43:30They were so hard got a job right out of college
43:34I'm a certified public accountant
43:36Accountant
43:37And then you just get the little negative part where i'm like damn like he should be here
43:43We had our little rough patches. We butted heads and now that i'm getting older
43:47I realized we butted heads so much because we were so much alike and now I wish I could just say you know what dad
43:53I'm, sorry
43:54It wasn't perfect, but he was my dad. So