10 Shocking Wrestling Plans You Won't Believe ACTUALLY Happened

Once called a 'Little B*stard', the former moniker was uttered in anger for years following his rechristening as Hornswoggle, as WWE beat the joke they'd made of his entire existence further and further into the ground.

As Finlay's trouble-stirring leprechaun, Hornswoggle was a minor irritant that at least only stuck to midcard scuffles and offered an innovative new way to present a run-in.

The first sign of trouble came in mid-2007, when he snuck in to a Cruiserweight Open and won the division's title. It was a dead division by then anyway, but his tenure officially killed it.

WWE's chaotic post-Benoit summer caused a number of creative adjustments, with the suspension of Mr Kennedy causing a panicked rebooking that turned a substantial storyline into a comedy footnote when the diminutive star was revealed to be Vince McMahon's illegitimate son.

Now in a McMahon angle, the one-note joke played out virtually every week, with Vince and his various associates incredulous at the antics of Hornswoggle, who was portrayed as child-like just because he happened to be a little person.

That story ultimately hit a wall when Finlay turned out to be his actual biological father, but Hornswoggle eventually back-doored his way into D-Generation-X, dragging down their own brand of infantile humour.

Credit must go to Dylan Postl, who played the role with vigour and deserved the healthy living he made in WWE. Less plaudits should be afforded to the company's creative engine room. Constantly utilising the character as a crutch, Hornswoggle was routinely the answer to a question nobody had even asked.