ROH HITS & MISSES 5/18: Dalton Castle Theme Episode including matches again Cody Rhodes for ROH Title and Marty Scurll, Castle becomes pizza maker, reflections on facing Rush

•INTERVIEW SEGMENT #1 – HIT: The episode this week features Ring of Honor mainstay Dalton Castle. In the opening segment, Castle talks about what he’s up to during the COVID-19 pandemic, including exercising and annoying his cats. This was a hit for me because it gets his “awkwardness” over to somebody who might be tuning in to Ring of Honor because they have more time in quarantine but do not know much about Ring of Honor. I popped when Castle called himself a “charismatic milkshake.”

•VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Dalton Castle def. Cody Rhodes (c) for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Final Battle in New York, New York (Dec. 15, 2017) – HIT: This match very obviously belongs on this list. They do not show the full match here, just the ending sequence where Cody taps, but the referee is out and does not see Cody tapping. [Side note: I watch Ring of Honor on the FITE app, and they might have the most obnoxious commercials and advertisements ever known to man. Yes, worse than the “Manscaping” ad on every wrestling podcast.] This is certainly one of the matches that made Dalton Castle who he is, especially hearing the crowd reaction when he scored the pin-fall victory and became the new Ring of Honor World Champion. This solidified him as a star to the Ring of Honor fans.

•INTERVIEW SEGMENT #2 – HIT: Castle becomes a “pizza maker” during quarantine, showing off his silliness. His cat looks on as he (quickly) bakes a pizza and consumes the pizza. If somebody is watching that has never seen Dalton Castle before, they are getting a decent feel for who he is watching this show.

•INTERVIEW SEGMENT #3 – HIT: Dalton Castle is talking about his match against Marty Scurll for the Ring of Honor World Championship, and about how he had a lot of doubters in the build-up to this match. People in the back were mad that Castle was in this match. This seems like a very real moment for Castle here, and you can feel the emotion well-up as he talks about the match. Castle “limps out of there the Ring of Honor Champion”.

•MATCH #1: Dalton Castle (c) def. Marty Scurll for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Supercard of Honor XII in New Orleans, Louisiana (Apr. 7, 2018) – HIT: The NWA World Champion Nick Aldis is in the front row for this one. At the beginning, the crowd was excited for this one. I can remember some of the lead-up to this match, and I know that Ring of Honor fans were certainly excited to see these two individuals go toe-to-toe. If you are familiar with Dalton Castle’s silliness, but you have not seen a whole lot of his “serious” side, this is the match for you. He does a great job here keeping pace with Scurll. All of the spots that were done, including the powder and the breaking of the referee’s fingers, were all well-done between everybody involved. This is another match that really “made” Castle in the eyes of many people, and I do not think it is fair to argue against that. Go out of your way to check this one out, even if you have seen it before.

•INTERVIEW SEGMENT #4 – HIT: Dalton talks about his match at Madison Square Garden against Rush. He says he “doesn’t remember that too much”. He lost to Rush in that one, but he had a grand entrance that he wrote, choreographed, designed, and built himself. “What other wrestlers gets to say they have done that?” Castle talks about how there have been a lot of ups and downs, but now, he has a tag partner (Joe Hendry). These two are truly a hoot together. I have never been a big Joe Hendry fan (dating back to his WCPW days), but I think he and Castle work well together as a unit, and I certainly like Hendry more when he is with Castle.

•MATCH #2: Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry defeated Tyler Bateman & Vincent, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams, and Brian Johnson & P.J. Black in a Four-Corner Tag Team match at Bound By Honor in Nashville, Tennessee (Feb. 28, 2020) – MISS: Yes, this is a fun match. Yes, it is a good showing by all men. No, it does not belong on this show. This is a highlight reel of Dalton Castle matches, and if we are going by that logic, I can think of countless other Castle matches that might be a better fit here. That being said, this match kicks a lot of butt. I purchased this show, and I remember being a huge fan of this match upon watching it live. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams is a guy that just knows how to get down and nasty in the ring. Maybe you should not go out of your way to see this one, but if you like a fun tag-team match, go and check it out.

•OVERALL – HIT: I must say, I have been really digging these sit-down interview style shows with the top guys of Ring of Honor. I have thoroughly enjoyed them all so far, and I think it helps the newer crop of Ring of Honor fans to understand what these guys have accomplished and what they have done in Ring of Honor up to this point. Dalton Castle is a wrestler that I have always enjoyed watching in Ring of Honor. I am excited to see what 2020 holds for him and his career. If we are able to get back to new footage and new storylines, I would love to see Castle make another run for the Ring of Honor World Championship.

Do you agree? Disagree? Send me an e-mail at drew@washburnchialpha.com and let me know what you thought about Episode #452 of Ring of Honor television!