Dalton Castle might have found fame with Ring of Honor, but that success only came after a disastrous try-out with WWE.
In more recent years Castle has continued to appear for the now Tony Khan-led Ring of Honor while also appearing on AEW television. The star challenged Chris Jericho for the ROH World Title back in 2022, while his most recent appearance saw him and The Boys demolished in under a minute by the Blackpool Combat Club.
Speaking in a new interview with Wrestle Joy, Castle reflected on his try-out with WWE noting that his wrestling persona at the time was a far cry from what it’s since become.
“It was probably 2013 or 2014, I started getting a lot more bookings and traveling on the road. I wasn’t doing the act that you see today, I was still Dalton Castle, I was still a peacock, but I wasn’t coming out in the jumpsuit with The Boys. I had tassels and a lot of color, but I didn’t really have a lot of direction in what I was doing. But because I was still functional in the ring and was still charismatic, I got the opportunity to try out with WWE,
Being young, I was on the radio at the time, and I hated my job, and I got called down. At the time, I was like, ‘This is it, this is everything I’ve been working for’. I go down to WWE, I go to one of those 3-day tryouts at FCW. I felt like I was crushing it. I felt so good! Day 3 was promo day, they said come as you want, come comfortable, come as you are. I wore flip-flops, and went up, and I did my promo. Like, there’s no doubt in my mind that I didn’t crush it, because I’m really good! Even then I was really good, I obviously got invited down.”
Despite getting “dressed down” for his promo performance, Castle said that the only person who was nice to him was Dusty Rhodes.
“They just dressed me down the second I stopped talking. They didn’t say one positive thing about the way I talked. They just shit on me for wearing flip-flops. Seven men that I looked up to, that I grew up watching and respecting, they were just running me down. I think the only person who didn’t say something mean and was just kind of nice, was Dusty Rhodes. That was something, that’s kind of nice.”
Some Within WWE Pushing To Sign Different ROH Star
Away from Castle’s less-than-positive brush with WWE, some within the company are pushing to sign Brian Cage. The star signed with AEW in 2020 but has endured something of a mixed spell with the promotion.
Cage didn’t appear on AEW television for much of 2022, but began to feature more heavily from November onwards, albeit on Dark. The former FTW Champion has also made numerous appearances in the relaunched ROH where he is currently one-third of the World Six Man Champions.