Hornswoggle

Hornswoggle
Hornswoggle signing autographs at an event.
Ring name(s)	Lil'/Little Bastard[1] Hornswoggle[1] Hornswoggle McMahon[2] Shortstack[1]
Billed height	4 ft 5 in (1.35 m)[3][4]
Billed weight	142 lb (64 kg)[4]
Born	(1986-05-29) May 29, 1986[1] Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Billed from	The End of the Rainbow Ireland
Trained by	Finlay
Debut	2004[1]

Dylan Postl^[1] (born May 29, 1986)^[1][5] is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, better known by his ring name Hornswoggle In WWE, he was the last Cruiserweight Champion before the belt was retired. He also served as the General Manager of Raw, a position that he had held anonymously from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011.

Professional wrestling career

Prior to joining WWE, Dylan appeared with NWA Wisconsin in 2005 as "The World's Sexiest Midget" $hortstack, where he won the NWA Wisconsin X Division Championship.^[6][7]

He also won the SSW Tag Team Championship with Devin Diamond, from The Pretty Hott Thangs (Ryan Kross and Josh Maxim) on May 19, 2006, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He relinquished the title after signing a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

He never wrestled in the WWE in his early years because he was not liked by the audience or other wrestlers. Hornswoggle would get his big break when WWE diva Candice Michelle needed a male partner for a tag team match against Stacy Keibler and Chris Masters. That's when Candice Michelle asked Hornswoggle to partner up. The two would win the match but more importantly, they would soon become a couple on WWE. The pair would split after 4 months of dating because Hornswoggle broke up with Candice. The reason is unknown. After the break up, Hornsoggle would go to Ireland to train with an amateur wrestler named Finlay for a year before coming back as a tag team duo.

Debut (2006–2007)

On May 26, Postl made his televised debut in Bakersfield, California on SmackDown! as the leprechaun partner of the fellow Irish wrestler, Finlay.^[1] After Finlay’s victory over Paul Burchill, an extremely hyper, dirty, mysterious little man (Postl) in a leprechaun costume scurried out from under the ring and jumped on Burchill, laughing maniacally all the while.^[1] Finlay pulled him off, only to slam him back down onto Burchill again and again.^[8] For the next few weeks, Postl continued to appear from under the ring after matches and attack Finlay's opponents.^[1] ]] Hornswoggle soon became more and he more aggressive and started attacking Finlay's opponent during matches, much to Finlay's dismay.^[1] On numerous occasions, Finlay either physically shoved Hornswoggle back under the ring or was forced to tackle him before he could hit an opponent. At one point, attacked Finlay, biting him when Finlay tried to stop him from attacking Gunner Scott.^[9] Little Bastard helped Finlay win the WWE United States Championship when he tossed him a shillelagh to knock out the United States Champion Bobby Lashley and pick up the win.^[10]

Hornswoggle; Cruiserweight Champion (2007–2008)

Hornswoggle in 2007.

On February 23, 2007, the character's name was changed to Hornswoggle on WWE's website and all references to the name "Little Bastard" were removed. The meaning of Hornswoggle is to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.^[11] The name change became official on the March 2 episode of SmackDown! when Hornswoggle attacked John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Michael Cole. Afterward, Finlay intimidated Cole, warning him to refer to Little Bastard as "Hornswoggle."^[12] In spite of this, Cole continued to occasionally refer to him as "Little Bastard". On March 30, 2007, Hornswoggle helped Finlay beat Mr. Kennedy by performing a senton bomb off a stepladder onto Mr. Kennedy, essentially copying Kennedy's move, the Kenton Bomb.^[1] SmackDown! announcers Michael Cole and JBL immediately referred to the move as the "Lepreton Bomb."^[13] During the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, which Finlay was involved in, Mr. Kennedy hit Hornswoggle with a Green Bay Plunge off of a ladder when Hornswoggle tried to interfere.^[14] On the following edition of SmackDown!, Finlay attacked Mr. Kennedy after his match and challenged him to a handicap match with Postl as Finlay's partner.^[15] Before the match, Mr. Kennedy apologized for hurting Hornswoggle. Finlay accepted his apology and formed a team with Kennedy.^[16]

Hornswoggle won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship after he pinned Jamie Noble in a Cruiserweight Open at The Great American Bash. The match stipulation declared that any and all people who qualified to compete in the division could enter this match. He briefly ran across the ring as the bell was rung before going back under the ring making him an official participant in the match. The other participants and commentators were unaware that he was a participant in the match until the referee counted the pin and awarded him the belt becoming a fan favorite in the process.^[17] This made him the first little person wrestler to win a championship in WWE history. He also became the lightest, shortest, youngest (21 years, 51 days), and the final wrestler to ever win the Cruiserweight Championship before the title was retired. Hornswoggle then began a feud with Noble over the belt. The next week on SmackDown!, Hornswoggle retained the title when he defeated Noble by countout.^[18] He attacked Noble in the following weeks by shoving a pie in his face,^[19] spraying him with a fire extinguisher, pushing him into Kane and causing him to get chokeslammed, and locking him in a large box.^[20]

Alliance with Finlay (2008–2009)

Vince McMahon and Hornswoggle.

On the September 10 edition of Raw, Hornswoggle was revealed to be Mr. McMahon's illegitimate son. Hornswoggle continued to appear on SmackDown!, as well. Although his partnership with Finlay was quietly phased out, Hornswoggle still continued to feud with Jamie Noble. His feud with Noble ended on the September 28 edition of SmackDown! when Acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero forced Hornswoggle to surrender the Cruiserweight Championship (which was later abandoned), citing that his status as Mr. McMahon's son and his diminutive stature would eventually jeopardize his well-being.^[21] After the affair of finding out who the illegitimate son was, Mr. McMahon began giving Hornswoggle matches against competitors that were much larger than him. His reason for doing this, was that he was showing his son, "tough love." Hornswoggle was placed into a match against The Great Khali at Survivor Series. At the event, Khali defeated Hornswoggle by disqualification when Finlay attacked Khali on Hornswoggle's behalf.^[22] This was the first time that Finlay appeared together with Hornswoggle since the beginning of the Hornswoggle and Mr. McMahon storyline. Finlay's attack on Khali started a feud between the two. At Armageddon, Finlay defeated Khali with the help of Hornswoggle. In addition, Hornswoggle also faced Khali on the 15th Anniversary of Raw, but Hulk Hogan made a surprise return in a one night appearance to come to Hornswoggle's aid.^[23]

Hornswoggle appeared in the Royal Rumble match, hiding under the ring upon entering until he came out and eliminated The Miz; Finlay appeared to protect Hornswoggle and took himself out of the match.^[24] Finlay became the only person in WWE history to be disqualified in the Royal Rumble match. On the February 18 edition of Raw, Hornswoggle had a scheduled steel cage match against his father, Mr. McMahon.^[25] During this match, Hornswoggle was whipped with a leather belt by Mr. McMahon. Finlay tried to get involved, but was attacked and handcuffed to the ring ropes by JBL.^[25] Mr. McMahon left the ring and allowed JBL to beat up Hornswoggle while an enraged Finlay watched.^[25] Following this, WWE.com announced that Hornswoggle had suffered internal injuries, including bleeding of the brain and spinal trauma.^[26] On February 25, JBL claimed that Hornswoggle is not Mr. McMahon's son, but "in reality is the son of Finlay".^[27] The next week on Raw, Finlay confirmed Hornswoggle was indeed his son, then was forced to watch helplessly as JBL assaulted Hornswoggle in his hospital bed.^[28] Postl returned to live television at WrestleMania XXIV, accompanying Finlay to the ring for his Belfast Brawl with JBL, once interfering by hitting JBL with a kendo stick, allowing Finlay to get the shot in with the shillelagh.^[29] JBL won the match by hitting Finlay with the kendo stick in the shins and following up with the Clothesline from Hell.^[29]

He made his in-ring return on the April 18 episode of SmackDown, defeating Matt Striker after a Tadpole Splash.^[30] On the April 21 edition of Raw, Hornswoggle was entered in the 2008 King of the Ring, but he was unsuccessful as he lost to William Regal in the first round after submitting to the Regal Stretch in 19 seconds. As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Hornswoggle was drafted to the ECW brand along with Finlay.^[31] At Night of Champions, Hornswoggle and Finlay challenged John Morrison and The Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but failed to win.

Association with DX (2009–2010)

Hornswoggle during his feud with Chavo Guerrero.

On April 13, 2009, Hornswoggle was drafted to the Raw brand, without Finlay, as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft.^[32]

Hornswoggle then entered into a feud with Chavo Guerrero, in which they competed in a series of comedy gimmick matches each week determined by the weekly Guest Host for Raw (Texas Bullrope Match, Blindfold Match, Falls Count Anywhere, etc.). The program began on July 7, 2009 on WWE Superstars and continued on to Raw. Hornswoggle won every match in this feud.

On the October 26 episode of Raw, after several weeks of wearing D-Generation X clothing, Hornswoggle received legal notification that he was no longer allowed to wear any DX clothing. Later on in the night, he got his revenge by helping the Raw guest hosts, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, put DX against each other and John Cena for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series. On the December 21 episode of Raw, Hornswoggle tried pressing charges against DX for assault on him, but later dropped them when DX agreed to make him DX's official mascot. On the January 18, 2010 episode of Raw backstage, Hornswoggle and Triple H confronted Big Show, The Miz and Jon Heder. Triple H made the match a six man tag team match: DX and Hornswoggle against The Big Show, The Miz and Jon Heder which ended after Hornswoggle pinned Heder. Hornswoggle appeared on the April 12 episode of Raw in the 'Baywatch Triple Threat Diva Tag', performing a frog splash life saving maneuver on Santino Marella. On the next Raw, he won a draft pick against Dolph Ziggler by count out after throwing his shoes at him, Ziggler attacked him after the match with the sleeper hold.

Brand switches and various alliances (2010–Present)

As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft on WWE.com, Hornswoggle was drafted back to the SmackDown brand. On the October 8 episode of SmackDown, Hornswoggle was named the official mascot for the SmackDown team at Bragging Rights. On the December 10 episode of SmackDown, Hornswoggle defeated Jack Swagger's Soaring Eagle mascot with a Tadpole Splash On January 30, 2011, Hornswoggle entered the 2011 Royal Rumble match, helping John Cena and Kofi Kingston eliminate a few superstars, only for him to get eliminated by King Sheamus.

On the season premiere of NXT Redemption, Hornswoggle was revealed as the pro for Titus O'Neil.^[33][34] After his tag team victory over Darren Young and Chavo Guerrero, Young attacked O'Neil thus making him a heel. They later had a match against each other which Hornswoggle won. Hornswoggle was later confronted by O'Neil's previous NXT mentor, Zack Ryder. Ryder lured Titus out of the ring by pretending to attack Hornswoggle, but he quickly re-entered the ring and ambushed Titus as he climbed back in, cementing the victory. Weeks after this, Hornswoggle was sent gifts each week, apparently from a secret admirer, Hornswoggle thought this was Maryse and so responded by giving her gifts, only to be shot down every time. On the July 26, 2011 edition of NXT, Hornswoggle found his admirer in the form of AJ who revealed herself by kissing him. Maryse said to AJ that Hornswoggle has finally got a lady of his own size, and AJ slapped her with a bouquet. AJ then accompanied Hornswoggle on both NXT and Smackdown. Some time later, Hornswoggle became jealous of Titus O'Neil hugging AJ and eventually sent her a letter ending their relationship, as he no longer wanted to be on NXT and would prefer to stay on SmackDown.

Hornswoggle dancing in front of Brodus Clay, Cameron and Naomi.

On the November 29, 2011 Live Holiday Edition of SmackDown, Hornswoggle won a battle royal eliminating Sheamus to receive a wish from Santa Claus (Mick Foley). With help from Sheamus, Hornswoggle wished for the ability to verbally communicate. For the first time since early 2008 Hornswoggle spoke, ending the segment with Hornswoggle calling Vickie Guerrero "grandma". The following week's Friday, with this ability, Hornswoggle became the special guest ring announcer for the David Otunga vs. Sheamus match. On the January 6 edition of Smackdown he defeated Heath Slater in an Over the Top Rope Challenge. In January 2012, Hornswoggle formed an alliance of sorts with Justin Gabriel, feuding with the former Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes and Heath Slater, he also accompanied Gabriel to the ring at the 2012 Elimination Chamber PPV in a losing effort against WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger.On the March 23 edition of SmackDown, Hornswoggle was added to Theodore Long´s WrestleMania XXVIII team as the team's personal mascot.^[35]

On the July 9 episode of Raw, Hornswoggle was revealed to have been the anonymous Raw General Manager, who previously ran the brand from June 2010 to July 2011 and had returned as that night's guest general manager. He made a return on October 12, when he was found with a Randy Orton doll. Ricardo Rodriguez wrecked it and continued looking for the real Orton.

After a period of inactivity, he returned to Raw in November, recently associating himself with The Great Khali and Natalya. He was injured by Big E Langston on January 11, 2013 episode of WWE Smackdown, after Khali and Natayla lost to Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. Since Natalya began challenging AJ Lee more often, Hornswoggle has rarely appeared on TV.

Other media

Leprechaun: Origins poster featuring Postl.

Postl starred in the film Leprechaun: Origins, a reboot of the Leprechaun film series.

Muppets

Hornswoggle was shown to be a fan of The Muppets, first seen when The Muppets were guest hosts of the Halloween Special of Raw. As shown in YouTube videos in which he has appeared, he owns much Muppets merchandise and has tattoos of Muppet characters.

In wrestling

Hornswoggle performing the Tadpole Splash

• Finishing moves
  • Tadpole Splash (Frog splash)^[4]
  • Sweet Shin Music - Parioded from Shawn Michaels, but could only reach the shin. (While part of DX)

• Signature moves
  • Diving double foot stomp^[1]
  • Lepreton Bomb (Senton bomb)^[13] – 2007

• Managers
  • Finlay
  • Rosa Mendes
  • AJ
  • Brodus Clay
  • Natalya

• Wrestlers managed
  • Finlay
  • D-Generation X^[4] (Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
  • Big Show
  • Sheamus
  • Titus O'Neil
  • Zack Ryder^[35]
  • Justin Gabriel
  • Brodus Clay
  • The Great Khali

• Entrance themes
  • "Hes Ma Da" by Jim Johnston^[36] (October 15, 2007–present)
  • "Break It Down" by The DX Band (December 21, 2009–January 18, 2010; Used while mascot of D-Generation X)

Championships and accomplishments

Hornswoggle was the final Cruiserweight Champion.

• NWA Wisconsin
  • NWA Wisconsin X Division Championship (1 time)^[6]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Rookie of the Year (2007)^[37]

• South Shore Wrestling
  • SSW Tag Team Championship – with Devin Diamond (1 time)^[1]

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[38]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Worst Gimmick (2009)^[39]
  • Worst Feud of the Year (2009) with Chavo Guerrero^[39]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hornswoggle.

• WWE profile