Ring of Honor star Dalton Castle recently spoke with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard‘s Five Questions.
Castle talks about how much of his character is an extension of himself, adding “The Boys” and their popularity, challenging for the ROH TV title at Best In The World 2016, and more. You can read a few highlights below:
Dalton Castle talks about his character, if it is an extension of his real-life personality:
I don’t have an exact definition of what you’re looking at, and that’s part of the beauty of it. It comes to me naturally–I see myself more as an entertainer–a glamrock performer, somebody who demands attention and wants to put on a good show. Doing things out of the ordinary and wearing these outfits–basically Liberace, Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga–I’m all these elements from the rock world in a wrestling ring. I’ve been loud and obnoxious my entire life, and I am a true wrestler at the bare bones of it. I’m classically trained in amateur wrestling, and feel like I’m a real athlete who is comfortable in his own skin and not weirded out by what normal society sees as different. I value humor–it’s the number one thing I like. If I have to choose a movie, I’m looking for a comedy. If I’m choosing music to listen to, it’s got to be catchy and fun. I don’t like being too serious.
I haven’t really changed who I am, but I’ve added a lot to it. My personality and the way I act kind of started this way, but the outfit has changed and the presentation has grown. You add the outfit, The Boys and eventually everything started working. When I first started, there was a disconnect between me and the fans. I think people liked me but they didn’t understand me. I was told this by people that I look up to in the industry–when big names would come into shows, I would always ask people to watch my matches and get advice. The most common advice I got from people was, ‘I think you’re good, but I don’t get it.’ I couldn’t translate who I thought I was physically until I pieced together the Dalton Castle you see today. Now when I walk through the curtain, I hope the fans get it immediately–I hope they know what they’re seeing. But if they don’t, I hope they like what they’re seeing.
Castle talks about challenging Bobby Fish for the Ring of Honor Television Championship next month:
When I walk through the curtain, I’m feeling excitement, I’m feeling anxiety and I’m always feeling just a little bit hungry. I can’t control how the office at Ring of Honor feels, all I can control is how well I do and how serious I take this. Regardless of how I look or how I act on that stage, I take this one-hundred percent serious. This is who I am, and the reason I’ve seen so much success with what I’m doing right now is people believe in me because I believe in me and I always have. I know what I’m doing, I’m fearless, and I’m going to be the best I know I can be. I’ve been prodding at it, pushing at it and working on it–with the fans support, we’ve got the attention of the Ring of Honor office and they’re finally showing more support in me. They’ve always been supportive, but now they’re showing they have more trust in me than ever to put me in this kind of spotlight. I’m real excited, and I can’t wait to see where we take this.
Now I get the opportunity to fight Bobby Fish, and let’s not overlook him–Bobby is, quite possibly, one of the greatest wrestlers out there right now. He’s a real athlete, and he’s a friend of mine. He’s one of the main reasons I was able to break into Ring of Honor. He’s helped me out big time–we train together, we travel together, and he’s a fighter. He’s got a background in kickboxing, and I’ve got a background in wrestling, and these are styles that are going to clash. Both of us border on the word expert in our respective styles of fighting, and he’s at a point where he thinks he’s the best. He’s going to want to show Ring of Honor that they are not making a mistake in putting an investment in him, but I’m at a point where I’m ready to do the same. It could be very interesting–you put us in that ring, we’re going to try to out-do each other, one way or the other.
I look back at these last two years, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. It’s such a rush. I’m doing what I love and I feel appreciated. I try to never forget that I love this. Everyone thinks that you’ve got to be on TV or be a giant superstar in WWE, but to make it in wrestling–to me–is to just make a living doing what I love.
What would Dalton Castle choose as his ‘bootleg’ 1996 era theme song?
Before I was in Ring of Honor, I was using a song by Queen–‘I Want It All,’ but if we’re in 1996, it’s a toss-up between Ace of Base ‘I Saw the Sign’ or ‘Animals’ by Savage Garden. I think you can see how amazing both those songs are.
