WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)
19. Hornswoggle McMahon (2007)
Mr. Kennedy was off the table as an immediate option for the 'Vince McMahon's illegitimate son' story in 2007 due to his injuries and Wellness Policy violations. So, rather than wait on their first choice, WWE crammed Hornswoggle into the role and played it for laughs when the initial idea had been to use McMahon's star power as the means to build a new main-eventer.
It was an unfortunate decision.
Little "Hornswoggle McMahon" was supposed to garner plenty of sympathy from fans once Vince moved to punish him for existing, then JBL revealed that the leprechaun was actually Finlay's boy instead. What? So, what was all of the McMahon stuff even about then? It made no sense, and it was obvious the company was forcing every bit of the story and rebooking certain things week by week.
Instead of watching a rising name like Kennedy go up a notch, the fanbase had to suffer through all of wee Horny's hijinks as Triple H laughed merrily at his father-in-law's misfortune. There was only so much of this the fans could be expected to take, and there wasn't even going to be a satisfying payoff at the end of it all anyway.
Worse, Hornswoggle became the final Cruiserweight Champion before WWE chucked that in the trash in September '07. They wouldn't bring the belt out of hiding again until 2016, but the biggest worry was that Swoggle was gobbling up too much airtime; he was killing belts and major storylines all at the same time.