'Life Is Short and So Am I': Dylan Postl, aka WWE's Hornswoggle, has a book due out in September

OSHKOSH - Dylan Postl has spent more than a decade reaching lofty goals. 

The 33-year-old Oshkosh native was hired by WWE. As the mischievous Hornswoggle, he participated in a Wrestlemania. He won a championship belt. He shared the ring with legends. He appeared in a major Hollywood film. 

Now, three years after his release from WWE, he's still crossing items off his bucket list. The latest: publishing his story.

"Life Is Short and So Am I: My Life Inside, Outside, and Under the Wrestling Ring" is the title of Postl's forthcoming autobiography, written with Ross Owen Williams and Ian Douglass. It's due out Sept. 10 from ECW Press. 

"It's a three-year project coming to fruition and I'm very proud of it," Postl said. "I have a unique story, as people know. It'll be nice for people, especially wrestling fans that don't know Dylan, to see that side of me. And then for people that do know Dylan to see the wrestling innards, per se." 

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Born with achondroplasia, a condition that causes disproportionate dwarfism, the Oshkosh West High School grad made the jump from a familiar face at Target to having major roles in WWE programming in the late 2000s and into this decade. He is the last man to hold the Cruiserweight Championship, fought Vince McMahon in a steel cage match and, despite his release in 2016, made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble in January thanks to a one-day contract.

After nearly 10 years wreaking havoc in WWE rings, Postl now keeps a busy schedule wrestling on the independent circuit and runs his wrestling company, ACW Wisconsin, out of Oshkosh. 

Williams and Douglass both have a history in the business of wrestler biographies. Williams recently put out books with Al Snow and Bob Holly and Douglass did the same with Dan Severn. 

And how's this for timing: Among the two WWE talents who wrote forwards for "Life is Short and So Am I" is Kofi Kingston, who has held the WWE Championship since "Wrestlemania 35" in April. Kingston and Curt Hawkins — the two guys Postl said are his closest friends in the business — each wrote a forward that Postl has purposely avoided reading.

He'll read it for the first time Saturday, he said, when he finally has a copy of the book in his hands. 

"They're my two best friends so it's going to be real," he said. "It's them telling who I am to normal people." 

Beyond reading Kingston and Hawkins' words, Saturday also marks a big day for Postl for other reasons. He'll take part in a book release event at Menominee Nation Arena before ACW Wisconsin's Rock 'N Rumble event. Advance copies will be available and the author will sign autographs. Later in the night, he's on the card for the night of both ACW action and performances by rockers Adelita's Way and Filter. 

It'll be the only chance for fans to get an early copy of the book before its official Sept. 10 release. 

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Postl, who now goes by Swoggle on the indie circuit, said he hopes his life story — which includes plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from his days in the WWE — grabs hold of three targeted groups.

"There's the wrestling audience — that's my career and that's my story, the life of a professional wrestler," he said. "Then you have the story of being a little person. So you have that audience and just what I've dealt with being a little person and a person of my stature throughout life and childhood and all that. Then the part at the end is about being a dad and raising Landon and how awesome it is, but at times how tough it is being on the road and away from him."

"It's also a story about Oshkosh," he said. "Every interview I do, I say how much this city means to me and the community and why it's home and always will be home for me." 

Contact Shane Nyman at 920-996-7223 or snyman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @shanenyman.

If you go

What: Rock 'N Rumble, featuring ACW Wisconsin and performances by Filter and Adelitas Way

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Menominee Nation Arena, 1212 S. Main St., Oshkosh

Tickets: $38 general admission, available at menomineenationarena.com, 920-744-2035 or the arena ticket office

Bonus: The event features a special appearance by former WWE and WCW superstar Booker T. He'll be available for a meet and greet from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

GET THE BOOK, MEET HORNSWOGGLE

Dylan Postl will take part in a book-release event from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Verve Lounge at Menominee Nation Arena. Advance copies of "Life Is Short and So Am I: My Life Inside, Outside, and Under the Wrestling Ring" will be available and Postl will be signing books. The event is free but guests are encourage to attend the ACW Wisconsin Rock 'N Rumble event that follows. 

"Life Is Short and So Am I" is available for pre-order on Amazon. It will be released Sept. 10.