10 Amazing (But Forgotten) WWE Pre-Show Matches You Need To See

3. El Torito Vs Hornswoggle (Extreme Rules 2014)

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Rightfully lauded more out of shock than deep-seated love for the match, the short-statured combatants were far from undermined by the mocking tones attributed to their 'WeeLC' match at April 2014's Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Featuring commentary from little people dressed as Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry 'The King' Lawler (Micro Cole, Jerry Smaller and JBelf) sat at a tiny ringside announce table with a referee and ring announcer matching the heights of the combatants, El Torito and Hornswoggle were comedic sidekicks for Los Matadores and the 3-Man Band respectively, but refused to succumb to the jokes themselves, engaging in a genuinely thrilling brawl.

After a festival of highspots from Torito with the use of a miniature steel chair, Hornswoggle took control with a similarly diminutive ladder before missing a tadpole splash that had previously won him the Cruiserweight Title seven years earlier. After hitting rolling thunder, he attempted the splash again, this time connecting with his opponent as the mini-Bull crashed through the scaled-down announce table.

Genuinely entertained, the crowd afforded the pair a 'this is awesome' chant that was more deserving than half the TNA X Division matches that received it at the time, shortly before Hornswoggle inadvertantly put Heath Slater through another table with an errant chairshot.

The babyface battled back, and after Los Matadores helped him put Jinder Mahal through a pile of plunder (with Drew McIntyre equally subdued), Torito put Hornswoggle through two chairs with a springboard flipping senton for the win.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett