Update on timeline for Dalton Castle’s in-ring return
Dalton Castle has provided an update on the timeline for his in-ring return.
Castle was knocked out during a match against Roderick Strong on the July 10 AEW Collision taping. Shortly after, Tony Khan announced he would miss the remainder of 2024. However, it was later revealed that Castle was dealing with a torn biceps, which required surgery, rather than a concussion.
Castle appeared on a recent episode of Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, and said he’s hoping to be back by January.
“I tore my biceps, which is why I’ve been doing all these neat things at home, that was back in July,” Castle said.
He later added:
“It was the last match I had. Just a little freak accident happened and then it hurt. I was freaking out. The guy I was wrestling with took a cheap shot at me or just (took) advantage of the situation. I don’t know, it sucks. It sucked because I was supposed to go hiking the next day in Calgary. I lost the match and then I lost my hiking trip and now I spend every day in physical therapy and then on the weekends I go antiquing. So, that’s where I find my happy place, buying old mugs.”
Castle later clarified that the injury wasn’t Strong’s fault, but commented that he “didn’t back down after.”
“The injury wasn’t his fault but yeah he just didn’t back down after. We were friends—I thought we were friends, me and this guy. Then I was like, ‘Hey, I just need a second,’ and he was like, ‘Nope, no timeouts.'”
“I try not to think about it too much because the time off sucks. I’m just focussing on enjoying the time off and working on getting better. And not watching what’s going on too, in wrestling, to try and keep my mind off it.”
“We’re projecting, at least, the end of the year,” Castle said when asked about his return timeline. “So, I’m thinking January I’m back.”
Our Dave Meltzer addressed Castle’s injury and his match with Strong that night on the July 15 episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.
“What happened was, it was a flying knee that knocked out Dalton Castle,” Meltzer said.
“He got knocked out. The referee counts one, two, held up the count because it wasn’t supposed to be the pin. Then counted three because Dalton Castle never moved and they didn’t show Dalton Castle, he was on the ground for several minutes. So, they didn’t show any of that.”
“You could see the edit. The edit was that the referee held up the count, Dalton didn’t kick out and the referee had to count the three because Dalton wasn’t getting up.”
“In the building, this was a complete mess and they were very lucky that this show was taped for this reason,” he continued.
On the July 20 episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer confirmed Castle needed surgery for a torn biceps.
Castle’s full appearance on Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend is available below.