“Speedball” Mike Bailey had a successful wrestling career through multiple promotionsincluding TNA, where he is a former three-time X-Division Champion, as well as AEW, where he won the treble titles twice. Bailey recently sat down for a Q&A video to answer questions from fans, on his YouTube channelwhere he revealed that he knew he wanted to be a professional wrestler at just 7 years old. However, that journey was not always straightforward.
“This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to be the most famous pro wrestler in the world,” Bayley said. “At that time, I was just watching wrestling on TV and say, “Ah, this is where I belong… I’m going to do just that.” As I got older, I kind of grew into my adult body and realized that I wasn’t like the people who were wrestling on TV at the time. I had to take a good, long look and say. “Yeah, maybe this isn’t super realistic for a career.”
Bailey explained that the idea hit him when he was just getting ready to train. He said that he’s thankfully started seeing more of the independent scene, including Ring of Honor, which has led him to find more wrestlers who relate to him. The Canadian credited Quebec’s Kevin Steen, now Kevin Owens, and El Generico, now Sami Zayn, with helping him see that.
“(They) didn’t fit the mold and made a living as professional wrestlers,” he said. “The way they did their careers was very different. They made their living as independent wrestlers and did so for many years before signing a contract. By the time they did that, the wrestling landscape was very, very different.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Speedball” Mike Bailey on YouTube and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
