Hornswoggle signed with WWE in 2006 and debuted on SmackDown alongside Finlay.
During this period he regularly helped the veteran during his matches, hiding under the ring, jumping out to attack Finlay’s opponents. However, his career took a wild turn in September 2007 when as part of a storyline he was revealed to be Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son.
This saw McMahon put Hornswoggle into a number of matches against WWE giants such as The Great Khali as a demonstration of “tough love.” In February 2008, Swoggle was viciously beaten by McMahon in a Steel Cage Match, with JBL getting involved for good measure.
JBL went on to reveal that Hornswoggle was actually Finlay’s son, and this eventually set up a Belfast Brawl between Bradshaw and Finlay at WrestleMania 24.
Despite the storyline taking place more than 15 years ago, and Hornswoggle being revealed to not be McMahon’s son, that hasn’t stopped fans from asking about his “real dad.” During an exclusive interview with Nick Hausman for Inside The Ropes, Swoggle took the opportunity to hit back at fans who haven’t been paying attention.
“Vince’ son people always say — Guys, I say this in every interview, I was Finlay’s kid. Like, I’m not Vince’s son. When I go to Horse Cave, Kentucky, ‘Man, how’s your daddy Vince?’ That’s how my dad! First off, my real dad is Eric Postel. One of the coolest humans on the planet. Probably the coolest human on the planet is my real dad. My storyline father was Finlay. So you watched the child reveal which was me, and then you just shut it off?! It doesn’t make any sense to me.
‘Daddy Vince is going through some tough times right now.’ True. That’s not my dad! That’s Shane’s dad! That’s not my father. Like the little kid and Free Willy, I don’t even know his name. I would have to Google check on it. I wouldn’t go to him be like ‘Hey, how’s your dad?’ I wouldn’t go like meaning the dad in the movie.
I’m not going to the sh*tty kid in Little Giants and be like, ‘Hey, how’s your Father Ed O’Neill?’ I’m not doing that.”
Vince McMahon Continues To Influence WWE Programming
Ever since Vince McMahon returned to WWE in January, fans have wondered just how much influence he has on the televised product. That uncertainty came into focus after WrestleMania 39 where he admitted that he does take an interest in creative, at least on a higher level. Since then he has been backstage on a couple of occasions, most recently on June 5th.
However, it seems that the Executive Chairman won’t be making a habit of visiting tapings regularly, and is content to give any input remotely as he has done for a number of months.
If you use any of the quotes from this article please give a h/t and link back to Inside The Ropes.