Ring Of Honor Star Dalton Castle On Career High Points, Comedic Influences & Flying United Airlines

After participating within Ring Of Honor’s 2015 Top Prospect Tournament and making a big impression with ROH fans all over the world, Dalton Castle properly signed with the popular wrestling company. Castle would ultimately win the ROH World Championship from Cody Rhodes at ROH’s Final Battle 2017 event and was part of this year’s G1 Supercard, wrestling at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Dalton Castle will be battling RUSH this weekend on Friday, August 9th at the Summer Supercard in Toronto, Canada; Summer Supercard and all of ROH’s upcoming live events, including its TV tapings, can be streamed live by HonorClub members. I had the pleasure of speaking with Castle about Summer Supercard and plenty more within our August 2019 telephone chat, the content transcribed below for your reading pleasure being a continuation of my chat with Castle for WhatCulture.

Castle can be followed on Twitter via the@theDALTONcastle handle, while details for all upcoming Ring Of Honor shows and HonorClub events are listed online at www.rohwrestling.com.

So looking at where you’re at now in your career, is there an accomplishment that you’re most proud of?

Dalton Castle: I mean, it doesn’t get better than winning the Ring Of Honor World Championship. That was kind of a pinnacle moment for me It was great being able to be in Madison Square Garden and do such a large, elaborate entrance that I was able to for some reason pull off and make happen. Those are those are pretty big moments in my life.

Looking back at the radio and music-oriented portion of your career, is that entirely over? Or do you foresee a point in your future where you might do that part-time?

Dalton Castle: No, I don’t think it’s over. I mean, I’m still kind of passionate about it. I never not entertained the idea of going back. I’ve never been actually offered the opportunity, so that doesn’t seem like it’s up to me.

Well I’m surprised given your personality and your prior success in that world that you didn’t start up a podcast at some point.

Dalton Castle: I don’t have a podcast but I do a YouTube series which is similar to doing that kind of format, the long form talking into the microphone. It was hard for me to want to start something like that when I was no longer working in actual nice studios. It was hard to hook up a computer microphone and do it. I never really wanted to do that, but the video format, I’m enjoying that so far.

People who do deep digging on YouTube will find a great, and I do mean great audition video that you cut for Second City, which is extremely meta. Was it one of your aspirations to actually be in that improv world?

Dalton Castle: I guess not necessarily in Second City specifically, but I watched all sorts of sketch programming and I can remember never not having Comedy Central on my TV when I was growing up every day after school. Kids In The Hall, Upright Citizens Brigade and Human Giant, watching all those shows. So in a way I’ve always kind of seen myself wanting to be in that world. But no, Second City was never something I looked at.

These days wrestling and comedy seem to have a huge overlap. There’s people like Chris Gethard who have had wrestlers on their show and people like Kevin Smith who have cast wrestlers in their movies. Do you find that there is really a connection to wrestling in comedy naturally?

Dalton Castle: I don’t know if it’s wrestling and comedy, but I just think wrestling is just another form of entertainment. Talking to comedians we all seem to have similar growing up, real similar backgrounds in the way that we get into the field… We are traveling and doing very small shows, which is very similar for them to do open mikes and having to travel a long distance for no money just to get on-stage and talking to a microphone. So I think there’s some sort of connection that we all kind of see in that world.

In terms of you, is the best part of the day actually performing in front of the audience? I know that sounds like a cliché question, but you often hear entertainers say “They pay me to travel, I perform for free.”

Dalton Castle: I mean, although the soup in the United [Airlines] lounge is very tasty and fun to enjoy, I would say it’s getting out there and actually doing my job and and performing is what I love the most. I find myself when I have long periods of time off, I love taking time off, who doesn’t like kind of having some time to yourself? But I also find myself quickly going crazy and wanting to go back and do work because I’m constantly just thinking about the next show.

Well you did mention the soup at the United Lounge. So I take it that United is your airline of choice?

Dalton Castle: It’s none of your damn business.

Sometimes when I interview people who travel 100-plus days a year on the road, they actually want to advertise what their brand loyalties are so they get…

Dalton Castle: Oh, you think United’s gonna send me a soup package? I’ll tell them how much I travel with them.

Well, you were known for giving out fruit baskets to some of your opponents over the years…

Dalton Castle: Mmhmm. Maybe I’ll get a soup package in the mail.

So any last words for the kids?

Dalton Castle: Clean your rooms and enjoy some high-fiber meals.

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Tags: Comedy Central, Dalton Castle, Kids In The Hall, Madison Square Garden, Ring Of Honor, ROH

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."