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Doink the Clown?s family sues WWE, claiming brain trauma led to painkiller overdose in Plano

Doink the Clown?s family sues WWE, claiming brain trauma led to painkiller overdose in Plano

Posted: Jun 26th 2015 By: Robert Wilonsky - TheScoopBlog.DallasNews.com

Matt Osborne ? better known as pro-wrestling journeyman video-game star Doink the Clown in the mid-1990s ? died June 28, 2013, at the age of 57 in his Plano home. The Collin County Medical Examiner ruled that an overdose of painkillers was to blame.

In a lawsuit filed in Dallas federal court Friday, his family points to another culprit: pro wrestling. Specifically, Vince McMahon?s World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., the sole defendant named in the lawsuit filed by Michelle James on behalf of Doink the Clown?s children, Matthew and Teagan Osborne.

The suit, echoing those filed in recent years by pro football players suffering from brain injuries caused by years? worth of concussions, alleges that wrestling led to ?traumatic brain injuries? that resulted in ?depression and drug abuse, which ultimately resulted in his untimely death.? The lawsuit says Osborne wasn?t the only wrestler victimized by wrestling?s scripted violence, where phony beatings led to real injuries. It lists more than a dozen others, among them members of the Von Erich family.

?When forced to acknowledge the risks to which it subjects its wrestlers ? by script, on a daily basis ? WWE took inadequate steps to correct the problem or to address its injurious conduct, the full consequences of which are still coming to light,? says the suit. ?Indeed, WWE continues a course of conduct designed to mislead its wrestlers, and designed to mislead Matthew Osborne until his death, about the injuries they sustained while wrestling for WWE by failing to disclose pertinent facts or offering misleading truths.?

The suit, filed by ?doctor-lawyer? Shezad Malik, who reps personal injury suits out of his Greenville Avenue and Southlake offices, doesn?t specify how much the family wants. Messages have been left for Malik. Other out-of-town attorneys are also listed in the lawsuit below.

WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt has said previously that WWE is ?being targeted by attorneys who tell [wrestlers and their families] there?s hundreds of thousands of dollars? to be made filing concussion-related suits. He tells The Dallas Morning News Friday evening this suit is no different ? that it?s just another one in a long line of legal filings aimed at ?drumming up people ? looking for NFL money.? The out-of-town attorneys behind the Dallas suit, he says, are also involved in similar ones in California and Connecticut.

?And they don?t have any merit,? he says. ?They?re all different from the NFL. We never had anyone claim they had these kinds of injuries until [these attorneys] did it. They find the destitute, people who have no money, and told them there?s money to be made. That?s what is going on. ? And I feel bad for these families, because they think they?ll make money off of this, and they?re not.?

When Osborne died two years ago, WWE issued a statement that said, ?WWE is saddened by the news that Matt Osborne, aka the original Doink the Clown, has passed away. A rugged brawler in promotions like Mid-South Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling, Osborne made a major impact in WWE under the greasepaint of a prankster named Doink ? one of the most enduring personas of the early ?90s. Our deepest condolences go out to Osborne?s family, friends and fans.?

 

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Week of Sun 06-28 to Sat: 07-04

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  • 06-28 2009 Ky-ote Joe became the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 06-28 2009 Nemesis (Damien Morte & Rage Logan) def. The Good Ol' Boys (Bud Barnes & Moonshine) for the SWCW Tag Team Titles
  • 06-28 2009 Montego Seeka & Li'l Joe def. T. M. S. (Seth Allen & Dane Griffin) for the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Titles
  • 06-28 2014 Angel Camacho def. Randy Price for the IZW Impact Division Title
  • 06-28 2014 Gary Tool became the IZW Heavyweight Champion
  • 06-28 2024 Seth Daniels became the UWE Apex Champion
  • 06-28 2025 Skidz def. Bishop Simon for the RWE Light Heavyweight Title
  • 06-29 1987 Tony Atlas & Skip Young became the WCCW Texas Tag Team Champions
  • 06-29 2003 Tyler Bateman def. John O'Malley for the ACW Hardcore Title
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  • 06-30 1957 Bull Curry def. El Medico for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
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  • 07-02 1962 The Daltons (Jim Dalton & Jack Dalton [1st]) def. Alberto Torres & Ramon Torres for the TSW United States Tag Team Titles
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  • 07-03 1989 P.Y. Chu-Hi def. Eric Embry for the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Title
  • 07-03 1996 Jimmy Kane became the OPW Oklahoma Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-03 2015 Mascara La Parka became the MSWA Oklahoma Champion
  • 07-04 1981 Paul Orndorff def. Jake Roberts for the MSW North American Heavyweight Title
  • 07-04 1983 The Von Erichs (David Von Erich & Kerry Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich) def. The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes, & Buddy Roberts) for the WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Titles
  • 07-04 1983 David Von Erich became the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
  • 07-04 1984 The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) def. The Von Erichs (Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich, & Mike Von Erich) for the WCCW World 6-Man Tag Team Titles
  • 07-04 1984 The Rock & Soul Connection (King Parsons & Buck Zumhofe) def. Bill Irwin for the WCCW American Tag Team Titles
  • 07-04 1986 Chris Adams def. Rick Rude for the WCCW World Title
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  • 07-04 1986 Abdullah the Butcher def. The Great Kabuki for the WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Title
  • 07-04 1988 Kevin Von Erich became the WCCW Texas Heavyweight Champion
06-28
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