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Dylan Mark Postl (born on May 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE under his ring name Hornswoggle. He debuted in WWE in 2006 as a leprechaun character known as Little Bastard allied with Finlay. In 2007, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him "Rookie of the Year,'' despite the fact that he actually began his career in 2004. He was released from WWE on May 2016, and debuted for CHIKARA several months later as the Big Deal before signing with Impact Wrestling for a time as Swoggle, the name he adopted on the indies outside CHIKARA.


Hornswoggle Tropes:

  • Arch-Enemy: The Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman, Jamie Noble, Vince McMahon (teased to be his father), D-Generation X, Chavo Guerrero Jr.. Most recently, El Torito.
  • Ascended Extra: Probably not the original intention but Bradshaw did have an offhand mention about an "Irish toad" named Hornswoggle in one of his promos. He even has a frog themed finishing move.
  • Bad Boss: He was the anonymous Raw general manager. And while he was, he was an asshole to everyone not named Michael Cole. And sometimes, not even Cole was spared.
  • Beard of Evil: Really grew it out during his feud with Boogeyman's Little Boogeyman.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: As The Big Deal in CHIKARA. He vanished without explanation after the season 16 finale, presumably due to being signed by Impact Wrestling. The Closers occasionally referenced him after that but he was quietly removed from the roster after season 18.
  • Faceā€“Heel Turn: Just to cement it, he's sided with 3MB against the more popular El Torito.
  • Facial Markings: Put them on to show he was no longer scared of the Boogeyman. He still was scared as ever but had gotten over his fear of Little Boogeyman, so there's that.
  • Fast Ball Special: This was originally his entire purpose for being on TV, as the thought was having Finlay throw him at people would make Finlay less likeable. It did not work, not at first anyway.
  • Fighting Irish: Eventually, he started out more as projectile Finlay used but eventually became one, even though he's actually American.
  • Finishing Move: Tadpole Splash (a frog splash).
  • Flipping the Bird: John Cena ducked when Finlay threw the little bastard, so he instead collided with Michael Cole and started biting him. After this Cole received an elegantly worded, profanity filled email from "Hornswoggle" detailing why he hated Michael Cole and put a drawing of two raised middle fingers at the end. The message was reproduced on WWE.com, but is no longer up, sadly.
  • Hate Sink: As The Big Deal in CHIKARA, enough that it actually got resident chew toy Juan Francisco De Coronado chanted for.
  • Karma Houdini: His penchant for mischief often goes unpunished. This was especially bad when he made an idiot out of Chavo Guerrero.
  • Kid-Appeal Character: And it worked incredibly well, in the face of all the backlash fans of the cruiserweight division, fans of Jamie Noble and those of Chavo Guerrero had for his antics. When D-Generation X announced he had the night off, they got booed!
  • Leprechaun: What he was implied to be at first, because he was small, dressed like a leprechaun and palled around Finlay. Melina said this was the proper term when Jillian Hall called him a midget.
  • Little Guy, Big Buddy/Vitriolic Best Buds: Had this relationship with Finlay.
  • Lovable Sex Maniac: During his "feud" with Melina. He was an unashamed pervert who upon being introduced to her by Vince McMahon pounced on and started kissing her. Hornswoggle would go on to strip Melina naked, twice. On the other hand, she was only "dating" him for a shot at the Women's Championship, which helped on the "Lovable" part.
  • Mascot: For the SmackDown! team at Bragging Rights 2010.
  • Mister Big: As The Big Deal, the manager of The Closers (Rick Roland and Sloan Caprice) in CHIKARA.
  • Odd Friendship:
    • His best known ones are with Finlay, DX and The Great Khali.
    • His group of riding buddies used to include The Great Khali and Mark Henry, two of the biggest guys in sports entertainment (and the world, for that matter).
  • Parts Unknown: "The End of the Rainbow"
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
    • He hit John Cena's Attitude Adjustment on Tyson Kidd, who is over a foot taller and some 50 pounds heavier than he is.
    • During his feud with Chavo Guerrero, he interfered on Evan Bourne's behalf while he wrestled Chavo at a live event at the Perani Arena in Flint Michigan, then carried Bourne around on his shoulders to celebrate the victory.
  • Power Copying: He often copied other wrestlers's finishing moves, like Mr. Kennedy's Kenton Bomb (calling it the Lepreton Bomb) or Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music.
  • Power Stable: King Booker's Court
  • Red Baron: (as Shortstack in the Wisconsin scene): "The World's Sexiest Midget"
  • Shout-Out: To Looney Tunes during his "Cruiserweight Champion" and "Bastard Son" phase. Jamie Noble set "traps" for him. Hornswoggle even had a bit where he "painted" a door on a wall and "ran" through it to escape Carlito, who couldn't follow. Hornswoggle also attempted to blow up Johnathan Coachman with explosives.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: This more than anything else is why Hornswoggle started to get on some viewer's nerves. First Finlay's theme became Hornswoggle's theme. Then Hornswoggle became Vince McMahon's bastard son. Later the cruiserweight division died with Hornswoggle. Afterwards Hornswoggle segments became an integral part of celebrity guest host stint Raw went through. In an occasion, Hornswoggle joined Degeneration X. In general, there were much less complaints when he was just Finlay's weaponized sidekick.
  • Stock Sound Effect: When sending Michael Cole emails, the arena lights would flash to a general prompt. Christian mocked this reproducing the sound on his phone and declaring it must be an email from Raw's general manager.
  • Super Spit: He has made use of the green mist.
  • The Unintelligible: He "spoke" in grunts and growls. Then he was granted a wish by Santa Claus so he could talk normally.note 
  • Unrelated Brothers: More like "Unrelated Fathers"; on the September 10, 2007 Raw, he was revealed to be Vince McMahon's "illegitimate son." Then it was changed to his being Finlay's son before the whole thing was dropped altogether.
  • Ur-Example: As Shortstack, he was the inaugural NWA Wisconsin X-Division Champion.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: His debut (in which Finlay pulled him out from under the ring, threw him on his opponent, and put him back under) was originally intended to be this; a leprechaun appearing and suddenly leaving as quickly as he came. However, it was decided that he should make further appearances.

 
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Hornswoggle and Melina

One WWE storyline had Hornswoggle dating Melina (who was doing it for the money), much to her distress as not only she found him a disgusting midget he also constantly acted like a depraved pervert around her, including peeping on her on the shower.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (10 votes)

Example of:

Main / DepravedDwarf

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