Hornswoggle Recalls Vince McMahon Laying It In During Their 2008 WWE RAW Steel Cage Match

Swoggle, f.k.a Hornswoggle in WWE, spoke with Wrestling, Inc. on the WINCLY podcast to discuss a range of wrestling related topics. Swoggle recalled one of his favorite moments during his WWE run which included an unsettling cage match with Vince McMahon.

"He told me what was going to happen," Swoggle recalled. 'Vince said, 'Got to make this real tonight. It's going to be snug but it's going to be better for TV.' And man he brought it. He whipped the piss out of me with that belt. I took that first one and then you could see I put my hand behind me just to try to take some impact away but then I realized, 'He's just whipping my hand, this is really dumb. Why am I doing this?' But it was one of my favorite moments of my run because it was a side you never saw of RAW, of Finley, of everything. It was a very real moment from top to bottom. It was a very uncomfortable moment that you never really got from the Hornswoggle character."

Swoggle spoke about Eli Drake's comments about not wanting to face Tessa Blanchard because of the size difference between the two performers. Swoggle said he focuses more on imagination than size when working in a match.

"I literally view wrestling as the time when I was playing with action figures," Swoggle said. 'You can make anything out of it. You can make it be fun. You just got to take a step back. Again, not take this too seriously because there's a midget wrestling a girl or a 400 pound man or anything. I wrestled a bull on national TV for months. A midget dressed as a bull against another midget. You can't take it that seriously. So, every opportunity I'm given I think, 'How can I make this fun?' And at times depending on the crowd, it's the Swoggle House Show match because I know it's going to get a reaction and there are times I have to think of something different.

"I'm wrestling Jordynne Grace coming up and I'm excited because it's going to be a challenge for myself and it's going to be a challenge for her," Swoggle said. "But it's going to be fun. I truly love professional wrestling. I don't want to do anything else. The thought of real-life scares me to death. I'm not ready for it yet."

Speaking of Sam Adonis, Swoggle showed excitement to work with Adonis at a new level. Swoggle also credits his experience with independent shows for gaining a well rounded scope for his own wrestling promotion ACW.

"It's been awesome so far," Swoggle said. "I just know him as a performer as well. This is going to be awesome working with him tonight on that level. With me running my company back home ACW Wisconsin, seeing what he does on shows. That's what I love about working with so many independent shows. I can see what works really well and use it to my advantage. Also, helping out other promoters with what works for us back home."

As a promoter himself, Swoggle admitted to having pet peeves when dealing with events. Swoggle said that lack of communication can be one of the most irritating things about working with wrestlers and promoters.

"No communication if you're going to be late," Swoggle admitted. "I absolutely hate it. Just tell me you're going to fifteen minutes late. Then it's so I'm not ready to have a meeting or wondering where guys are fifteen, twenty minutes before doors and you're not there. I'm wondering where the hell you are. Are you no showing or what's going on? Lack of communication is the number one irritation."

Swoggle's full interview with Wrestling Inc was included in a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be listened to via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. During the interview Swoggle discusses the punk rock vibe of WrestleRex, going viral for looking like AJ Styles, his experience with WWE creative, if he's talked with AEW, Goldberg vs Undertaker, WWE's 24/7 Championship, his 2008 RAW Steel Cage match against Vince McMahon and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.