I had not seen Dalton Castle wrestle before his debut in ROH, but I had heard some rumblings about him from his time in CHIKARA. After seeing his debut, I have come to fully understand what all the fuss was about. The Party Peacock is now, easily, my favorite new wrestler on the planet and I have only seen him, in-ring, a handful of times.
Starting things off things, I have to talk about his entrance. Not since “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s entrances at Starcade have I been so wildly entertained by someone just getting to, and entering the ring. I mean, are you kidding me? The attire with the winged cape!!…..the bulging eyes and facial expressions!!….the strutting out of his jumpsuit!!….the “boys” with the peacock feathers!! It’s outrageously awesome, and all he has done so far is showed up.
Second thing is his persona. He is a pure throwback to the days of Gorgeous George and the “Exotic” Adrian Street with the ambiguous sexual orientation, and flamboyance. He has some Jack Black influence in how he draws out his words, contorts his face, and also with his on-point comedic timing. When he stretched out on the “boys” as if they were a chaise lounge, and goaded Jay Lethal into pure rage by taunting him with the words “real champion” and “Jay Briscoe” it was nothing short of brilliant. His voice inflection matches up perfectly with his antics and I dig it (sucka).
Now lets talk in-ring ability. The way he flows offensively with classic wrestling moves in combination with some nice innovation keeps it interesting. His dead-lift German suplex is ridiculously cool……it’s the kind of move that you can’t wait to see as soon as you know that Dalton Castle is in the next match. On top of all that, I think the man can really sell. In his match with Lethal, he completely saved things when Donovan Dijak hit him with a very poorly executed “Feast Your Eyes” finisher outside the ring. Castle actually made it look halfway decent, which maybe the most impressive thing he’s done to date. John Cena should be begging for a guy like Dalton Castle to make that springboard (ace crusher, whippersnapper, diamond cutter) stunner look formidable. Dude can throw down!!
So wrapping up why I think the “Party Peacock” is the next big thing in wrestling…….I really enjoy that he is paying homage to professional wrestling history. I mentioned Gorgeous George, and Adrian Street who are two of the innovators when it comes to being a little on the feminine side, and making their hyper-masculine opponent feel horribly uncomfortable while facing them. It is a classic wrestling ploy/mind game that makes for compelling story-lines. We have seen it more recently with “Adorable” Adrian Adonis and Goldust……not to mention WCW’s forgettable Kwee Wee (fart sound). I think Dalton Castle is well on his way to ranking right up there with those legends of wrestling….guys who clearly knew how to put on a show, and just as clearly had an abundance of fun while doing it.
LONG LIVE THE PARTY PEACOCK………DALTON CASTLE!!!
PS ~ (this is my first attempt at a fan-post, so let me know what you think..don’t pull any punches if you think I stink)
