ROH Wrestling: Dalton Castle Will Outlast Anyone

Everyone expected the ROH Wrestling World Championship match between Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal at the 16th Anniversary Show to be a classic, and it delivered. What made the match so special was the fact that it told the story it needed to tell – that Castle can take any opponent’s best shot for any length of time before pulling out a victory.

When Dalton Castle defeated Cody Rhodes for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Final Battle last year, you knew that a special reign was about to begin. Cody helped bring new eyes to the product, and even though people critiqued the quality of his matches, he clearly helped take the belt to new heights. As such, ROH Wrestling needed to put the title on the right babyface, and, well, they couldn’t have made a better choice than Castle.

See, not only does Castle have one of the best characters in wrestling today, but he’s also one of the most underrated in-ring talents in the world. The beginning of all of Castle’s matches showcase his amateur background, he’s a showman who knows how to play to the crowd during a match, his finisher is sick, and he’s one of the strongest wrestlers in the company. Heck, he might be one of the strongest wrestlers in the world pound-for-pound. Go watch his excellent delayed German suplex if you don’t believe me.

At ROH’s 16th Anniversary Show, the fans expected a high bar to be set in the main event, pitting Jay Lethal, who is the franchise player in the company, against Castle, who hadn’t truly been tested in a title defense before. Lethal’s done nothing but put together insane matches throughout his career, and this includes recent bouts with the likes of Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, and the under-appreciated Jonathan Gresham.

It’s one thing to expect two talents like Castle and Lethal to have a great match, but it’s another thing for the match to meet the hype. And it certainly did. There were some ridiculous spots. Lethal countered Castle’s Bang-A-Rang finisher into a Figure Four after injuring the champion’s knee, Castle kicked out of the Lethal Injection, and Castle was the one who changed the momentum of the match by hitting Lethal with a German to the outside that dropped Lethal “on his head”.

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This is the type of back-and-forth wrestling between two top-notch athletes with legitimate grappling ability, top-tier athleticism, enviable strength, and defined personas that ROH has become famous for. There were some other solid matches on the card, such as a Scurll vs. Punishment Martinez No. 1 contender’s match for the ROH World Title, but Lethal and Castle made sure that nobody could have any hopes of stealing the show from them.

But what’s more important than any of the outrageous spots or the counters was the fact that Lethal and Castle told the right story. Whenever a young champion is going up against an established “A” player like Lethal, the story is this: Can they hang with the big name? Could Castle take everything Lethal threw at him? Could Castle overcome Lethal’s veteran know-how, big moves, and be more resilient than a former World, TV, and “Pure” Champion?

The answer was a resounding “yes”, and I have to give a tip of the cap to the commentary duo of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana for helping Lethal and Castle tell this story. From the beginning to the end, they highlighted all the relevant details about the performers, put every move in the context of the match, and accentuated the big, pivotal moments.

Of course, Castle kicking out of Lethal’s finisher, the Lethal Injection, was a big deal. But there was a moment later in the match when Castle had weakened knees, pushed to his limit by the ruthlessly efficient and wise Lethal, and was in a dangerous position on the apron.

Lethal was desperately trying to find some means of putting Castle away, and he decided to attempt to hit Castle with a cutter to the outside as his proverbial killshot. He kept going for it, but Castle kept clutching the ropes for dear life, showing his resolve as a champion. Castle’s persistence caused Lethal to yell “Damn it!” in frustration. For most of the match, Lethal had been in control, but he just couldn’t find the final blow to take the title off of Castle. And no matter how hard he tried, Castle wouldn’t let go.

In the end, it was Lethal who would be hit with a devastating move, as he was nailed with a German to the outside. Riccaboni said that it was the bullet in the chamber Castle had that we didn’t know he had left in him. Not long after this, Castle countered the Lethal Injection, and after Lethal had countered Castle’s own Bang-A-Rang finisher several times, the ROH World Champion was able to make sure he hit his finishing maneuver to put the match away.

Next: ROH 16th Anniversary Show Results And Analysis

Not only did this brilliant performance help solidify Castle as a true top guy in ROH with this caliber of a match against “Big Match Jay”, but the match showed that Castle will take anyone’s best shots and withstand them. He will fight through a knee injury, the opponent’s best move, and find some way to hit his Bang-A-Rang. And somewhere in between, he’ll use the bullet that he tucked away, so it would be in an opponent’s best interest to avoid underestimating his resolve.