Dalton Castle Wanted To Drop ROH Title Early Due To Back Injury, But It ‘Wasn’t The Plan’
At ROH Final Battle 2017, Dalton Castle defeated Cody Rhodes to capture the ROH Championship.
Castle made his first appearance in ROH in 2013, working his way up through the Top Prospect Tournament before reaching the top of the mountain in 2017.
Speaking on the Wrestling Perspective podcast, Castle discussed his ROH Title win and when he found out he was getting the belt.
“You kind of know months leading in and you get told a month ahead of time but you never want to check up on it because it’s pro wrestling and I assume every show I show up to, something is going to change. Until my music was playing that night, I wasn’t certain it was going down. I think I got wind of it maybe a month or two ahead,” he said.
Castle lost the title in a Four Corner Survival match at a television taping that aired on July 21, 2018. However, if it was up to Castle, he would have dropped the belt sooner due to a back injury.
“I was trying to get rid of it for a long time. I had a broken back that I was unaware of and it really started to take its toll on me during Supercard of Honor time. That’s when I started to feel the most pain I’ve had. I got to the point where I couldn’t get out of bed or couldn’t stand and do promos for more than like three minutes before having to take a break and kneel. I had horrible nerve problems. I tried to get rid of the belt but I got told, ‘that’s not the plan, we don’t want it off of you,’ so I fought through it and did everything I could to wrestle around it and defend the title every chance I got. I looked tough and felt a lot of pride, but what a stupid move,” said Castle.
Supercard of Honor took place on April 7, 2018. Castle defeated Marty Scurll on that night to retain the ROH World Title.
Castle recently re-signed with ROH, though terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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