WWE's Hornswoggle Recalls Training, Early Days Of Career

Dylan Postl, better known to WWE audiences as Hornswoggle, enjoyed an incredible 10-year run considering the roles he was usually relegated to. As a performer with dwarfism, Postl played comic relief more often than not, at one point even portraying a leprechaun with magic powers. But Postl was so much more than a novelty act — he was a properly trained professional athlete. 

The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion credited Ken Anderson, known as Mr. Kennedy in WWE, for putting him through the wringer, noting that Kennedy never catered to Postl's physical limitations.

"I said from day one, I don't want to be trained as a 'midget wrestler,'" Postl said on Undertaker's "Six Feet Under" podcast. "I don't want to do the ref spots, I don't want to do the ass biting. I want to be Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. So [Anderson] trained me like that — doing flat backs, doing slams, doing hip toss-arm drag-bodyslam — all of that stuff with normal-size humans. 'Cause I never watched midget wrestling. It wasn't my thing. I thought it was hokey."

Postl noted he had trained for just two years before WWE called him to portray Fit Finlay's pint-sized sidekick. While Postl did do his fair share of ass-biting, he occasionally demonstrated his wrestling chops, scooping up Tyson Kidd for an Attitude Adjustment in the 2011 Royal Rumble, while several wrestlers have also been on the receiving end of his Tadpole Splash. Postl also put on the performance of his life at Extreme Rules 2014, defeating El Torito in a "WeeLC" match.

Hornswoggle was released from WWE in 2016 but continued to make sporadic appearances, last seen chasing Zelina Vega around the ring in the 2019 Women's Royal Rumble match.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Six Feet Under" podcast, and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.