Like most of the other talents under Ring of Honor contract when the promotion went on hiatus in late 2021, Dalton Castle’s future was very much in doubt when Tony Khan purchased the promotion in March 2022. But ultimately worked out well for Castle, who wound up joining AEW and Khan’s version of ROH, and has remained with both promotions since. And it seems that Castle attributes his employment with AEW/ROH to one match early in his AEW run.

Appearing on “What Happened When” with AEW announcer Tony Schiavone, Castle looked back on his ROH World Championship match against Chris Jericho on the October 18, 2022 episode of “AEW Dynamite.” Castle revealed that Jericho had picked Castle as one of his title defenses, and believes that match helped take him from a talent occasionally used to a full-time AEW/ROH wrestler.

“I owe so much to Jericho,” Castle said. “I don’t think I would’ve…I got my full-time job at AEW just because of him selecting me to be one of his opponents. I was there for like seven months, but I might as well have been invisible, getting ignored and it was weird. It was a weird time. And then when you finally get hired full-time, you feel like you’re part of the crew and welcomed a lot more.”

While he’s been out of ROH World Title contention recently, Castle has remained busy, challenging Ricochet for the AEW National Championship at ROH Final Battle and forming an alliance with The Outrunners. Castle supported The Outrunners from the announcer’s desk during the duo’s $200K four-way tag team match on “AEW Collision,” though the duo ultimately came up short in winning the cash.

If you use quotes in this article, please credit “What Happened When” and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription