Professional wrestling is an industry where working through injuries is often seen as part of the job, but sometimes those injuries are far more serious than performers initially realize. For ROH and AEW star Dalton Castle, what he once believed was a simple pulled muscle turned out to be something much more severe.
Speaking during an appearance on the “What Happened When” podcast, the former ROH World Champion revealed that he unknowingly wrestled for an extended period with a broken back.
“I wrestled for quite a long time with a broken back, undiagnosed,” Castle said.
Castle explained that the injury occurred during a training session that combined his professional wrestling career with his continued interest in freestyle wrestling. At the time, he believed the pain he felt was simply the result of a muscle strain.
“I broke my hand in the middle of it… I think it was 2016,” Castle recalled. “I just pulled the muscle, is what I initially thought. Like, I had this, I was traveling in freestyle. I was professional wrestling, but on the side, I would still train in regular wrestling.”
During one particular training exchange, Castle described a moment where both he and his opponent moved simultaneously, leading to the injury.
“I just was this real hard go with this guy. And he cranked his neck the same time my back popped.”
The pain soon intensified dramatically. Castle described waking up in the middle of the night and realizing something was seriously wrong.
“And then I woke up in the middle of the night in the worst pain of my life, where I couldn’t lie down, couldn’t sit up, couldn’t move… it was, like, electric.”
When Castle eventually visited a doctor, the injury was initially misdiagnosed. Because he was still able to bend over and touch his toes, the doctor believed his back was simply inflamed rather than broken.
Despite the intense pain, Castle continued to perform during that time. He recalled lying on ice packs moments before matches just to get through the pain before walking out to the ring.
During that period, Castle was also competing at the top of Ring of Honor. His ROH World Championship reign eventually came to an end in a four-way match against Jay Lethal that also included Matt Taven and Cody Rhodes.
Following the match, Castle stepped away from competition in June 2018 in order to recover from the injury before returning to action later that October.
Stories like Castle’s serve as a reminder of just how physically demanding professional wrestling can be. While fans often see the finished performance in the ring, many wrestlers are dealing with injuries behind the scenes, sometimes pushing through serious physical issues to continue performing at a high level.
Does hearing stories like Dalton Castle wrestling with a broken back change how you view the physical demands of professional wrestling?
