"Little Bastard" redirects here. For the car in which James Dean was killed, see here

Dylan Mark Postl
Born	(1986-05-29) May 29, 1986 (age 38) Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Shortstack Little Bastard Hornswoggle
Billed height	4 ft 5 in (130 cm)
Billed weight	119 lb (54 kg)

Dylan Mark Postl (born May 29, 1986) is an American midget wrestler better known by his ring name Hornswoggle. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its SmackDown! brand where he is the reigning WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Career

2005

Prior to his appearances on SmackDown!, Postl was best known for his appearances with NWA Wisconsin as Shortstack, or "The World's Sexiest Midget" Shortstack, where he won its X Division Championship.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Postl signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in May 2006. He is the fourth wrestler from NWA Wisconsin to sign with WWE, following Daivari, Ken Kennedy, and CM Punk. Postl made his first appearance on WWE television in a WWE Unlimited segment featuring Snitsky, Goldust, and Candice Michelle.

He first showed up as the leprechaun partner of the Irish wrestler Finlay on SmackDown! during the May 26 episode. After Finlay’s victory over Paul Burchill, a mysterious little man (Postl) scurried out from under the ring and jumped on Burchill. Finlay pulled him off, only to slam him back down onto Burchill again.^[1] For the next few weeks the as-yet unidentified man continued to appear from under the ring after matches.

Eventually, SmackDown! play-by-play commentator Michael Cole began referring to him as the Little Bastard, which caught on and became his "official" name. Color commentator JBL refused to call him "Little Bastard" (according to JBL, "he might have parents"), instead calling him (still to this date) a leprechaun, which was confirmed in one edition of SmackDown! by Finlay.

Little Bastard soon became more and more aggressive and started attacking during Finlay's matches, much to Finlay's dismay. 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 Finlay when Finlay tried to stop him from attacking Gunner Scott.^[2]

Little Bastard was instrumental in helping Finlay win the United States Championship when he tossed him a shillelagh to knock out champion Lashley and pick up the win.^[3] He is also instrumental during and after matches, exemplifying this by low blowing opponents during a tag team match. He even poked his head out of the apron and tossed JBL a can of Guinness beer.

On November 1, 2006, WWE.com ran an article titled "Little Bastard Exposed". It was an email sent by an anonymous WWE fan, who said he spotted Little Bastard in a Green Bay parking lot, in the back of a car with an unidentified woman; Little Bastard then went berserk and drove off.^[4] He said he was now going to (kayfabe) sue WWE for invasion of privacy when the picture was taken.^[5] He (kayfabe) requested that he receive a public apology from commentator Michael Cole for giving him the name "Little Bastard." ^[6]

At No Way Out, Finlay and Postl won against The Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman.^[7] Prior to the match was the first time Postl talked on WWE television, saying that little people scared him. Later that week on Smackdown!, Little Bastard pinned the Boogeyman with an Irish DDT, in a match pitting himself and Finlay against Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman.^[8]

On February 23, his 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.^[9]. The name change became official on the March 2 episode of SmackDown!. Postl attacked JBL and Michael Cole. Afterwards, Finlay intimidated Cole and told him that Little Bastard's name is Hornswoggle.^[10] Despite this, Cole continues to occasionally refer to Hornswoggle as "Little Bastard", as recently as WrestleMania 23, however it is as a derogatory nickname instead of the only name used to refer to him as.

On March 16, 2007 he talked for the second time on TV, during a backstage promo chasing around Queen Sharmell and saying, "Happy St. Patrick's Day! Kiss me; I'm Irish!".^[11]

On March 30, 2007, he helped Finlay beat Mr. Kennedy by doing a senton bomb off a stepladder onto Mr. Kennedy, essentially copying Kennedy's own Kenton Bomb. SmackDown! announcers Michael Cole and JBL immediately coined the move's name as the Lepreton Bomb^[12], although whilst on the ladder Hornswoggle used Jeff Hardy's signature hand gesture.

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.^[13] Finlay then attacked Mr. Kennedy after his match on the next SmackDown! and challenged him to a handicap match against Finlay and Hornswoggle.^[14] When the time came for the match, Mr. Kennedy apologized for hurting Hornswoggle. Finlay accepted his apology and ironically formed a team with Kennedy.^[15]

He also shot a promo for SmackDown! where he stole the World Heavyweight Championship Belt from then champion Edge, who chased him backstage for it. Finlay then intercepted and returned the belt to Edge.^[16]

Hornswoggle won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship after he pinned Jamie Noble in a Cruiserweight Open at The Great American Bash; 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, however the other participants and commentators were unaware that he was a participant in the match until the ref counted the pin and awarded him the belt.^[17] This made him the first little person wrestler to win a championship in WWE history. He also became the lightest, shortest, and youngest (21 years, 51 days) wrestler to win the Cruiserweight title.

Hornswoggle then began a feud with Jamie Noble over the belt. The next week on SmackDown!, Hornswoggle retained the title when he defeated Noble by countout.^[18] He has done the following to Jamie Noble over the following weeks: shoved a pie in his face^[19], sprayed him with smoke, and pushed him into Kane (causing Noble to get chokeslammed by Kane).^[20]

On Saturday Night's Main Event, during a tag match with Finlay and the Great Khali versus Batista and Kane, Hornswoggle was utilized as a battering ram by Batista and Kane against Khali who was tied to the ring ropes.^[21] Hornswoggle Is rumored to be Mr. Mcmahon illigenimant son.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Tadpole Splash^[22] (Frog splash)
  • Irish DDT (Jumping DDT, mostly to a kneeling opponent)
  • Lepricon Bomb (Senton bomb) - occasionally done off step ladder as a parody of Mr. Kennedy's Kenton Bomb
  • Splash with the aid of Finlay to elevate him

• Signature foreign objects
  • Green mist
  • Shillelagh

Championships and accomplishments

• NWA Wisconsin
  • NWA Wisconsin X Division Championship (1 time)

• South Shore Wrestling
  • SSW Tag Team Championship (w/Devin Diamond) (1 time)

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time, current)

Notes

External links

• WWE Profile
• Hornswoggle at Cagematch.net