Dalton Castle (wrestler)


Brett Giehl, better known by his ring name Dalton Castle, is an American emcee and professional wrestler, currently signed to Ring of Honor. In ROH, he is a former World Champion and World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. Giehl is also known for his tenure in Chikara, where he wrestled under the names Ashley Remington and Dalton Caroline Castle.

Early life

As a child, Giehl loved professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage, with other favorites including Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, and Frank Gotch.
Giehl wrestled for more than 10 years from middle school to college, representing the Greece Athena High School Trojans in 2003, and winning a varsity wrestling tournament in the 171 pound weight class in 2004. He was an amateur and NCAA wrestler, winning a New York championship in Greco-Roman wrestling and competing three times on the NCAA All-State Team. He was also a member of Team USA, traveling internationally for the World Championships. In 2010, he attained a second championship at the Beach National, winning 1st place in the 215 lb division representing Livonia WC.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2009–2015)

During 2009 in Next Era Wrestling after defeating Brett Mednik and Brandon Thurston he unsuccessfully challenged Josh Jordan on July 18, but they would later team together. On August 2, 2009, he defeated Marc Krieger at an Empire State Wrestling event, preceding an August 15 loss to Bobby Fish. Castle spent one year with ESW until he left the promotion. In May and June 2010, he had two title matches against Krieger for the Northeastern Championship, losing the first and winning the second by disqualification.
In 2011, Castle returned to ESW, where he and his partner Will Calrissian won the ESW Tag Team Championship by defeating The Rochester Wrecking Crew at ESW WrestleBash. They held it 238 days until June 1, 2013, when it was dropped to The Flatliners at ESW Aftershock. The team broke up afterward.
In November 2011 Castle worked with International Wrestling Cartel, where he won the IWC Heavyweight Championship on December 14, 2013. He lost the title on January 24, 2015, to RJ City in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Dalton is the second longest reigning IWC World Heavyweight Champion, having held the title 406 days. On May 9, 2015, Castle faced Tommy Dreamer for the title in a four-way elimination match that also included RJ City and Justin LaBar, but was defeated.

Chikara (2013–2015)

At Wrestling Is Intense's final event on September 15, 2013, Darkness Crabtree's match with Jervis Cottonbelly went to a no contest after the reformed GEKIDO attacked and tore down the show, with Gekido ultimately "killing off" Crabtree. In a series of videos titled "Rough Waters" posted to Chikara's YouTube channel, it was revealed that Crabtree left a will granting a great deal of money to his kayfabe nephew Dalton "Caroline" Castle, causing Castle to alter his image to that of a wealthy yachtsman and adopt the new name of Ashley Remington.
Remington's debut match in Chikara was on May 25, 2014, at You Only Live Twice, where he defeated Chuck Taylor. He would become quite popular with Chikara fans over the duration of that season, and would end the year with a successful victory over Juan Francisco de Coronado, in a German suplex match.
In 2015, Remington joined The Battle Hive with Amasis, Fire Ant, and Worker Ant. He also gained his third point for title contention in 2015, and at the Anniversario event in May, he challenged Grand Champion Hallowicked in a losing effort.

Ring of Honor (2013–present)

Dalton Castle debuted in Ring of Honor in May 2013, at Dragon's Reign. Joined by "The Boys" in January 2015 Castle entered the ROH Top Prospect Tournament, losing to Ashley Sixx in the first round. Donovan Dijak, the tournament's eventual winner, opted to give up his shot at the ROH World Television Championship against Jay Lethal to instead join The House of Truth, prompting Castle to challenge Lethal for the title in March. Lethal accepted and defeated Castle with help from Dijak and J. Diesel.
At Global Wars '15 in mid-May, Castle defeated Donovan Dijak on the first day, then on the second lost to Jyushin Thunder Liger in a match which he later described as his favorite. Regaining momentum with victories over Romantic Touch and Takaaki Watanabe in June, he beat Silas Young at Best in the World 2015. After a loss in July to Adam Cole at Death Before Dishonor XIII, the feud with Silas Young resumed, with Young wanting to take Dalton's Boys and make them "real men".
Castle agreed to a match at All Star Extravaganza VII with the stipulations that if he lost, Young would get The Boys, while if Young lost, he would become one of Castle's Boys. Castle subsequently lost the match, with Silas Young getting The Boys. Castle faced Young in another losing effort at Final Battle, but despite The Boys seemingly siding with Young in the weeks prior to the event, they rejoined Castle following the match. Their rivalry concluded on April 8 in a Fight Without Honor match, the first-ever on the TV program, all previous ones had only occurred on pay-per-view. Castle won with help from his Boys who attacked Young. After winning at Global Wars a four-corner survival match to determine the No. 1 contender for ROH World Television Championship, he faced Bobby Fish at Best in the World '16, but failed to win the title.
On September 30, 2016 at All Star Extravaganza VIII Dalton Castle and Colt Cabana defeated All Night Express, War Machine, Shane Taylor and Keith Lee in a four corner survival tag team match won to become the number 1 contender for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. On ROH television on November 19, 2016, Colt Cabana attacked Dalton Castle and The Boys and turned heel by splitting up the tag team. At Final Battle Castle defeated Colt Cabana. On April 1 at Supercard of Honor XI Castle was defeated by Christopher Daniels in a match for the ROH World Championship. Castle won his first title in ROH on June 23, 2017, when he and The Boys defeated Bully Ray and The Briscoes for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Best in the World. They lost the title to Bullet Club's Adam Page and The Young Bucks on August 20, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On December 15 at Final Battle, Castle defeated Cody to win the ROH World Championship for the first time. During his reign, Castle defended the title seven times, including a victory over Jay Lethal at ROH's 16th Anniversary show, Marty Scurll at Supercard of Honor XII, and Cody and Marty Scurll in a three-way match at Best in the World. However, during his reigns he suffered several injuries, cancelling several matches. Castle lost the title against Jay Lethal on June 30, 2018.
On April 6, 2019 at G1 Supercard, Rush defeated Castle, After the match, Castle attacked The Boys and left the ring. On May 4, 2019, Castle apologized to The Boys, but then attacked them again, cementing the heel turn.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2015)

In 2015, Castle competed two nights for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on their television show Impact Wrestling. On February 15 at X-Travaganza 3, he was defeated in an Ultimate X qualifying match by Rockstar Spud. On February 16 at TNA Gut Check, he defeated DJ Z to qualify for a five-way elimination match later that night, losing in the second match to Tevita Fifita.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Castle's gimmick is that of a flamboyant showman with an androgynous personality, drawing comparisons to Gorgeous George, Adrian Street, Ric Flair, and Goldust. However, unlike those predecessors who have tended to portray villains, Castle typically plays a fan favorite. Castle has also mentioned glam rock stars David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, The Darkness, and Foxy Shazam as inspirations, in addition to Lady Gaga. Castle is frequently accompanied to the ring by two shirtless, mask-wearing men, referred to as his "Boys", who act as human furniture and fan Castle during his matches.

Personal life

Giehl is married to a woman named Heather. He holds a degree in communications and theatre.
In 2011, Giehl was an emcee for WZNE in Rochester, New York under the name The Giehl. During his tenure at the station, he interviewed fellow professional wrestler Kurt Angle. Giehl went on to work for WQBK-FM from 2011 until 2014, hosting a five-hour afternoon slot on the radio under the Dalton Castle moniker. Beginning January 2012, the company's YouTube channel hosted a series called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Tights where Castle interviewed professional wrestlers. His guests included Luke Harper, Velvet Sky, CM Punk, Matt Hardy, and Dean Ambrose.

Championships and accomplishments