Early career (2004–2006) Postl started his career in the Fox Valley Wrestling Alliance (FVWA), under the ring name Hardcore Wonder. In 2005, Postl appeared with
National Wrestling Alliance territory NWA Wisconsin as '''"The World's Sexiest Midget" Shortstack''', where he won the NWA Wisconsin X Division Championship. 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. For the next few weeks, Postl continued to appear from under the ring after matches and attack Finlay's opponents. Little Bastard helped Finlay win the
WWE United States Championship on the July 14 episode of
SmackDown! when he tossed him a
shillelagh to knock out the champion
Bobby Lashley and pick up the win. 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. On the March 2 episode of
SmackDown!, Hornswoggle attacked
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and
Michael Cole. Afterward, Finlay intimidated Cole, warning him to refer to Little Bastard as "Hornswoggle." On the March 30 episode of
SmackDown!, Hornswoggle helped Finlay beat
Mr. Kennedy by performing a
senton bomb off a stepladder onto Kennedy, essentially copying Kennedy's move, the Kenton Bomb. During the
Money in the Bank ladder match at
WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Kennedy hit Hornswoggle with a Green Bay Plunge off of a ladder when Hornswoggle tried to interfere on the behalf on Finlay. On the April 6 episode of
SmackDown!, Finlay attacked Kennedy after his match and challenged him to a
handicap match with Hornswoggle as Finlay's partner. Before the match, Kennedy apologized for hurting Hornswoggle. Finlay accepted his apology and formed a team with Kennedy. Hornswoggle won the
WWE Cruiserweight Championship after he pinned
Jamie Noble in a
Cruiserweight Open at
The Great American Bash on July 22. 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. Hornswoggle then began a storyline
feud with Noble over the belt. The next week on
SmackDown!, Hornswoggle retained the title when he defeated Noble by
countout. He attacked Noble in the following weeks by shoving a pie in his face, spraying him with a
fire extinguisher, pushing him into
Kane and causing him to get
chokeslammed, and locking him in a large box.
Vince McMahon's illegitimate son (2007–2008) On the September 10 episode of
Raw, the storyline involving
Mr. McMahon's illegitimate son culminated with the reveal that Hornswoggle was the illegitimate son. Hornswoggle's feud with Noble ended on the September 28 episode of
SmackDown! when
Acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero forced Hornswoggle to surrender the Cruiserweight Championship (which was later retired), citing that his status as Mr. McMahon's son and his diminutive stature would eventually jeopardize his well-being. Mr. McMahon began giving Hornswoggle matches against competitors that were much larger than him to show his son "tough love." Hornswoggle was placed into a match against
The Great Khali at
Survivor Series on November 18. At Survivor Series, Khali defeated Hornswoggle by
disqualification when Finlay attacked Khali on Hornswoggle's behalf, turning both Hornswoggle and Finlay
face. This was the first time that Finlay appeared together with Hornswoggle since the beginning of the Hornswoggle and Mr. McMahon storyline. At
Armageddon on December 16, Finlay defeated Khali with the help of Hornswoggle. On the February 18, 2008 episode of
Raw, Hornswoggle had a scheduled
steel cage match against his father, Mr. McMahon. 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. On the February 25 episode of
Raw, JBL claimed that Hornswoggle was not McMahon's son, but "in reality [was] the son of Finlay". 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. Hornswoggle returned to live television at
WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, 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. JBL won the match by hitting Finlay with the kendo stick in the shins and following up with the
Clothesline from Hell. He made his in-ring return on the April 18 episode of
SmackDown, defeating
Matt Striker after a
Tadpole Splash. As part of the
2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Hornswoggle was drafted to the
ECW brand along with Finlay. At
Night of Champions on June 29, Hornswoggle and Finlay challenged
John Morrison and The Miz for the
WWE Tag Team Championship, but failed to win.
Association with D-Generation X (2009–2010) On April 15, 2009, Hornswoggle was drafted to the Raw brand, without Finlay, as part of the
2009 Supplemental Draft. 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 the July 7 episode of
Superstars and continued on to
Raw. Hornswoggle won every match in this feud. Hornswoggle's next storyline began the October 26 episode of
Raw, when after several weeks of wearing
D-Generation X (DX) clothing, Hornswoggle received legal notification that he was no longer allowed to wear it. 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 November 22. 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 Big Show, The Miz and Heder which ended after Hornswoggle pinned Heder.
Brand switches and Anonymous Raw General Manager (2010–2011) As part of the
2010 WWE Supplemental Draft on WWE.com, Hornswoggle was drafted back to the SmackDown brand. On October 8 episode of
SmackDown, Hornswoggle was named the official mascot for the SmackDown team at
Bragging Rights. On the July 9, 2012, episode of
Raw, Hornswoggle was revealed as the
Anonymous Raw General Manager, who previously ran the brand from June 2010 to July 2011. On the season premiere of
NXT Redemption, Hornswoggle was revealed as the pro for
Titus O'Neil. After their tag team victory over
Darren Young and Chavo Guerrero, Young attacked O'Neil. 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 later, Hornswoggle was sent gifts from a secret admirer, assuming it to be
Maryse. He responded by giving her gifts, only to be shot down. On July 26,
AJ Lee revealed herself as the admirer by kissing him. AJ then accompanied Hornswoggle on both
NXT and
SmackDown. Sometime later, Hornswoggle became jealous of O'Neil hugging AJ and eventually sent her a letter ending their relationship, as he no longer wanted to be on
NXT and preferred to stay on
SmackDown.
Various alliances final storylines and departure (2011–2016) On November 29, 2011, holiday edition of
SmackDown, Hornswoggle won a battle royal, by lastly eliminating
Sheamus, to receive a wish from Santa Claus (
Mick Foley). With help from Sheamus, Hornswoggle wished for the ability to verbally communicate. With this ability, Hornswoggle became the special guest ring announcer for the
David Otunga and Sheamus match on the following week's
SmackDown. On January 6, 2012, episode of
SmackDown he defeated
Heath Slater in an Over-the-Top Rope Challenge. Later that month, Hornswoggle formed an alliance with
Justin Gabriel, feuding with the former Intercontinental Champion
Cody Rhodes and Heath Slater, he also accompanied Gabriel to the ring at the
Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in a losing effort against
United States Champion Jack Swagger. On March 23 episode of
SmackDown, Hornswoggle was added to
Theodore Long's
WrestleMania XXVIII team as its personal mascot. ,
Brodus Clay and
Cameron He made a return on October 12, 2012, 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, associating himself with
The Great Khali and
Natalya. He was injured (
storyline) by
Big E Langston on January 11, 2013, episode of
SmackDown, after Khali and Natalya lost to
Dolph Ziggler and
AJ Lee. He returned on March 17 episode of
Raw, to celebrate
St. Patrick's Day, only to be interrupted by
Bad News Barrett. On the April 15, 2014, episode of
Main Event, Hornswoggle turned
heel after revealing himself as the mascot for
3MB (Heath Slater,
Drew McIntyre and
Jinder Mahal). In the following months, he faced
El Torito numerous times, losing a
WeeLC match at
Extreme Rules (Postl says this was the best match of his career) and a
hair match at
Payback, resulting in his head being shaved. On June 12, 2014, McIntyre and Mahal were released by WWE, and ending 3MB. In July on
Superstars, Hornswoggle accompanied Slater for his match with
Adam Rose, and was kidnapped by the Rosebuds, who transformed him into a mini-Rose. On August 19 episode of
Main Event, Hornswoggle turned face once again when he joined his former rivals,
Los Matadores (including El Torito), as their second valet. He donned a cow suit and was referred to as
La Vaquita (meaning "the little cow"), to complement El Torito, who was dressed as a tiny bull. Los Matadores went on to be defeated by Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil. That same week, on
Superstars, his name was tweaked to
La Vaca (meaning "the cow"), when he teamed with El Torito to defeat Slater and O'Neil. On September 29 episode of
Raw, Hornswoggle reverted back to a heel and became Slater and O'Neil's (Slater-Gator) mascot,
the Mini-Gator. After the breakup of Slater-Gator, Hornswoggle took time off from WWE television to undergo arthroscopic shoulder decompression surgery in March 2015. On September 28, 2015, WWE announced Hornswoggle's thirty-day suspension for violating the company's Wellness policy. In his 2019 autobiography, Postl claimed he had been suspended because he had been unable to produce a urine sample for a mandatory drug test within a required three-hour window, rather than for testing positive for banned substances. The book contained a photo of what Postl contends was a test report for a
hair analysis drug test performed on the day his suspension was announced that found no evidence of drug use. After not having made any appearances in WWE since then, Hornswoggle was released from WWE on May 6, 2016.
Other appearances (2018–2020) On April 27, 2018, Postl returned in the
Greatest Royal Rumble event, eliminating
Dash Wilder, before being eliminated himself by
Tony Nese. On January 27, 2019, Postl made an appearance at
Royal Rumble, chasing
Zelina Vega during the Women's Rumble match. WWE contacted him to appear at Backlash 2020 in a pre-taped match between The Street Profits and Viking Raiders. Despite taping his part, his segment wasn't aired.
Independent circuit (2016–present) Following his release from WWE, Postl returned to his hometown promotion ACW. Postl also signed to appear at a show co-promoted by
Global Force Wrestling and WrestlePro under the ring name Swoggle and debuted for the promotion on June 11, facing
Brian Myers. Swoggle won after Myers knocked down the referee and while the ref was down, Grim from ''Grim's Toy Show'' interfered against Myers with a full nelson slam. Swoggle did a tadpole splash on the incapacitated Myers and won by pinfall. On July 6,
Chikara announced that Postl would be debuting for the promotion on July 23 under the ring name The Big Deal. On March 30 at
WrestleCon, Postl, under the Swoggle ring name, defeated
Grado.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2016–2020) On the December 15, 2016, episode of
Impact Wrestling, titled
Total Nonstop Deletion, Swoggle made an appearance as the partner of
Rockstar Spud in the Tag Team Apocalypto match. After turning on Spud in the Tag Team Apocalypto, Swoggle would square off with
Lashley and knocked himself out when he attempted a spear on Lashley. He would then appear on January 5, 2017, episode of
Impact Wrestling, where he would defeat Rockstar Spud, causing Spud to quit. On January 19, episode of
Impact Wrestling, he would then team up with
Robbie E in a losing effort against
Aron Rex and Spud. On April 27 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Swoggle was paying Rockstar Spud some attention and ruffled Spud's hair in what was intended to be an amusing gimmick with the fans - however Spud took exception to this and as he was chasing Swoggle, the situation concluded with Swoggle running up the entrance ramp, after losing his trousers (pants). Later that same show, Swoggle would viciously attack Spud using a hammer, causing unknown leg injuries. On June 1, Spud returned to
Impact, entering through the crowd and attacking Swoggle with a hammer, like Swoggle had done to him. On November 13, 2017, his profile was officially removed from Impact Wrestling's website confirming his departure from the company. Swoggle returned to Impact Wrestling at
Bound for Glory 2019 where Swoggle competed in the
Bound for Gold gauntlet match which was won by
Eddie Edwards. On October 24, 2020, Swoggle made another surprise return to Impact Wrestling at
Bound for Glory 2020, where he competed in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet Battle Royal, which was won by Rhyno. On the October 27 episode of
Impact, Swoggle helped
Tommy Dreamer in defeating
Brian Myers in a
hardcore match by hitting Myers with a low blow. Later, it was announced that Myers would face Swoggle in a match at
Turning Point. At the event he lost against Myers. On November 24, 2020, Swoggle appeared as a parody of wrestler
AJ Styles, and defeated
Ethan Page with the help of
Karl Anderson.
Ring of Honor (2019) Swoggle competed November 3 at ROH Unauthorized, disguised as "Mini Delirious", the tag partner of
Delirious. He unmasked after they lost to
El Jefe Cobbo and
El Villainisto, based on the match's stipulation. ==Boxing==