Hornswoggle
Ring name(s)	Shortstack[1] Lil' / Little Bastard[1] Hornswoggle[1] Hornswoggle McMahon[2]
Billed height	4 ft 4.5 in (1.33 m)[3][4]
Billed weight	142 lb (64 kg)[4]
Born	(1986-05-29) May 29, 1986 (age 26)[1] Oshkosh, Wisconsin, U.S[2]
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, better known by his ring name Hornswoggle. He is employed by WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand. In WWE, he was the last Cruiserweight Champion before the belt was retired.

Early years[link]

Professional wrestling career[link]

Prior to joining World Wrestling Entertainment, 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 would go on to capture 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, but relinquished the belt due to having signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

World Wrestling Entertainment[link]

Postl signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in May 2006. 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] Eventually, SmackDown play-by-play commentator Michael Cole began referring to him as the Little Bastard. Little Bastard soon became more and more aggressive and started attacking Finlay's opponent during matches, much to Finlay's dismay.^[1] On numerous occasions, Finlay either physically shoved Little Bastard back under the ring or was forced to tackle him before he could hit an opponent. At one point, Little Bastard 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]

On November 1, 2006, WWE.com ran an article titled "Little Bastard Exposed".^[11] It was an email sent by an anonymous WWE fan, who said he spotted Little Bastard in a Green Bay, Wisconsin parking lot, in the back of a car with an unidentified woman.^[11] Little Bastard then went berserk and drove off.^[11] As part of the storyline, Bastard threatened to sue WWE for invasion of privacy when the picture was taken.^[12] He also requested that he receive a public apology from commentator Michael Cole for giving him the name "Little Bastard."^[13]

Hornswoggle; Cruiserweight Champion (2007)[link]

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.^[14] 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."^[15] 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."^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] Before the match, Mr. Kennedy apologized for hurting Hornswoggle. Finlay accepted his apology and formed a team with Kennedy.^[19]

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.^[20] 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.^[21] He attacked Noble in the following weeks by shoving a pie in his face,^[22] spraying him with a fire extinguisher, pushing him into Kane and causing him to get chokeslammed, and locking him in a large box.^[23]

Alliance with Finlay (2007–2008)[link]

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.^[24] 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.^[25] 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.^[26]

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.^[27] 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.^[28] 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.^[28] Mr. McMahon left the ring and allowed JBL to beat up Hornswoggle while an enraged Finlay watched.^[28] Following this, WWE.com announced that Hornswoggle had suffered internal injuries, including bleeding of the brain and spinal trauma.^[29] On February 25, JBL claimed that Hornswoggle is not Mr. McMahon's son, but "in reality is the son of Finlay".^[30] 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.^[31] 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.^[32] JBL won the match by hitting Finlay with the kendo stick in the shins and following up with the Clothesline from Hell.^[32]

He made his in-ring return on the April 18 episode of SmackDown, defeating Matt Striker after a Tadpole Splash.^[33] 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.^[34] 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)[link]

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.^[35]

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 would emerge victorious in 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.

SmackDown and NXT (2010–present)[link]

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.^[36] 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 would later be 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 Hornswoggle, Maryse would come to AJ and say that Hornswoggle has finally got a lady of his own size, only for AJ to slap her with a bouquet. AJ would then accompany Hornswoggle on both NXT and Smackdown. Some time later, Hornswoggle began to get jealous of Titus O'Neil hugging AJ and eventually Hornswoggle decided to send a letter to AJ 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 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.^[37]

On the April 20 episode of SmackDown, Hornswoggle was revealed to be Brodus Clay's "brother" and dance with Clay, Cameron, and Naomi. He managed Clay (along with Cameron and Naomi) as he defeated Hunico. He performed a Tadpole Splash to Hunico following the match.

Other media[link]

March 15, 2012 it was announced that WWE would be making a Leprechaun reboot in conjunction with Lionsgate, who also worked with them on See No Evil and The Condemned.^[38]

On March 29, WWE.com unveiled a new video advertisement poster depicting Postl in his new debut starring in the movie "Leprechaun: Origins", which is a reboot of the movie Leprechaun franchise that ran from 1993 to 2003.^[39] He announced via twitter that it would come out in March of 2013.^[40]

In wrestling[link]

Hornswoggle performing a Tadpole Splash

• Finishing moves
  • Tadpole Splash (Frog splash)^[4]

• Managers
  • Finlay
  • AJ
  • Brodus Clay

• Wrestlers managed
  • Finlay
  • D-Generation X^[4] (Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
  • Big Show
  • Sheamus
  • Titus O'Neil
  • Zack Ryder^[41]
  • Justin Gabriel
  • Brodus Clay

• Entrance themes
  • "Hes Ma Da" by Jim Johnston^[42] (October 15, 2007 – Present)
  • "Break It Down" by The DX Band (December 21, 2009-January 18, 2010; used while a mascot of D-Generation X)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

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)^[43]

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

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[44]

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

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hornswoggle

Professional wrestling portal

• WWE profile
• Online World of Wrestling profile
• A Hornswoggle fansite