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'Speedball' Mike Bailey Discusses AEW Debut, New Finisher's Name & Chasing Kenny Omega For 10 Years (Exclusive)

"Speedball" Mike Bailey has finally arrived in the company known as "Where The Best Wrestle."

Sid Pullar III

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Wrestling fans were excited to find out who would be the "Wildcard" entrant in the AEW Dynasty International Championship Eliminator Tournament on the March 12 edition of Dynamite. It was revealed to be former three-time TNA X-Division Champion, "Speedball" Mike Bailey.

"I just got home, right? I got home yesterday after a very long day of travel and I am now just starting to catch up on everything," Bailey says to The Takedown on SI following his official AEW debut.

"My phone has been buzzing nonstop since the match happened with people saying congratulations, but I'm doing my best to respond to every single message and every single tweet and I can't (laughs). There's been too many, it's been impossible to say thank you to everyone, but I want to and I think right now is the perfect chance to do it, right?"

After a 20-year career, Bailey is extremely grateful to every fan out there who has supported him along this journey and seen the numerous matches he's been a part of across multiple promotions.

"You talk about a wild ride, but it's been 20 years of a professional wrestling career that's led me up to this moment, up to this debut on AEW Dynamite, finally making it here. And I mean I want to say thank you to every single person that has watched a Speedball Mike Bailey match over the last 20 years, that's been on my side, on my team that's been supporting honestly."

Talking about his 20 year career in the professional wrestling business, Speedball Mike Bailey has had a fascinating journey that has seen him watch some of his peers reach new heights while his rise took a little longer.

"I started wrestling in Quebec, in the French part of Canada in 2005. And if people don't know what wrestling was like in 2005, this is pre-Facebook, so if you wanted to advertise your independent wrestling show, like you had to staple a flyer to a telephone pole and that was the most accessible means of advertising. So I wrestled for over 10 years in Canada, making little to no money before I eventually made it to the United States, started working on some of the major independent promotions there, one of which being PWG, which I think PWG is ultimately and now very intimately tied into All Elite Wrestling, right."

MORE: "Speedball" Mike Bailey Debuts On AEW Dynamite

"I was wrestling in 2016, in the 2015 BOLA where I wrestled and I remember if you look at the card now, half of them or more than half the card is with AEW now. And they've been absolutely killing it for several years. So my hope back then was I was just gonna follow along with the pack and have the same kind of trajectory, but that didn't happen for me. I was removed from the U.S. because I couldn't wrestle without a work visa for five years. So during those five years, I was looking ahead at where I wanted to be."

Despite the era of internet negativity, the newest AEW signee has been overwhelmed with the amount of positivity that has surrounded his debut on Dynamite just two days after his arrival.

"Like, there's a lot being made about how negative the internet is, right? You see all the negative comments, but they're all drowned out and erased by the overwhelming amount of positivity and love and support that myself and AEW have received over the last, God, 48 hours, 36 hours."

In his debut on the March 12th AEW Dynamite, Bailey scored a win over The Beast Mortos to advance to a four-way final to determine the number one contender for the current AEW International Champion, Kenny Omega. "Speedball" has found himself following in the footsteps of Omega for years dating back to his days in Japan nearly 10 years ago.


"Eventually, I started wrestling for DDT, which is the same promotion in Japan that Kenny Omega came up with, trying to follow in his footsteps. And I mean, that's been the journey, that's been the goal for me, that's where I been looking at. In 2015, I was in PWG with all the best wrestlers in the world and it took me another 10 years to finally make it and officially be "ALL ELITE", officially be back "Where The Best Wrestle" with those very same people."

This potential showdown with Omega has been a dream match for Bailey despite the two men having one previous meeting in PWG back in 2015.

"But yeah, I mean I've been literally chasing Kenny Omega for 10 years," Bailey said in reference to a possible match against the reigning AEW International Champion.

His connection to "The Cleaner" goes even deeper than some might imagine. Bailey revealed his "Ultimate Weapon" finishing move was inspired by Omega and his favorite video game.

"When I started in PWG, I used just a Shooting Star Press as my finishing move, but there was also Ricochet there, also Matt Sydal and Andrew Everett there, who were all using the Shooting Star Press, so I was like I gotta make mine unique, I gotta find something different, so I added the knees, right. And I didn't have a name for it, it was just Shooting Star Knee Drop until I got to DDT and that's when I decided to call it 'The Ultimate Weapon.'"

"Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favorite games, I play it so often, but Sephiroth who is the main bad guy and 'The Ultimate Weapon' is a sword that Cloud, the main character uses and the final cut scene after you beat the last boss. There's just a little battle but it's like a one-on-one little cutscene, you basically win automatically, but it's basically the main character using 'The Ultimate Weapon' to deal the final blow to Sephiroth, 'The One Winged Angel' and that is the image that led me to naming my finish, 'The Ultimate Weapon.' "

On the subject of finishing moves, "Speedball" debuted a new finish during his debut match against The Beast Mortos. Bailey revealed the background behind his new tornado roundhouse kick maneuver and its name as well.

"I've thought about it a lot, I've been practicing that move. I felt I needed something quicker, something more direct, something that requires a less specific setup than 'The Ultimate Weapon'. And during the whole time I was off, I was in Canada getting my visa renewed between December and March and I spent a lot of time there several hours every week in the IWS dojo, which is a wrestling school in Montreal training and teaching there, and I've been working on that kick extremely hard every chance I get for the last three months."

"And I call it, name reveal right here, 'Time Adventure.' Which is a reference to the final episode of what is one of the greatest TV shows of all time, 'Adventure Time.'"

After scoring a victory in his debut, Mike Bailey is now only one win away from his dream rematch for the AEW International Championship. He will face Orange Cassidy and the winner of the two other tournament matches in a four-way determine Kenny Omega's opponent at AEW Dynasty.

"So I'm hoping to be able to finish that 10 year chase of Kenny Omega and make that (Final Fantasy 7) image a reality at Dynasty of all events and that's what I'm looking forward to, I think that's the rematch I been wanting for a long time and it doesn't get any better than that."

AEW Dynasty will take place on Sunday, April 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before the pay-per-view, the four-way final to the Dynasty International Championship Eliminator Tournament will take place on the March 19th edition of AEW Dynamite that will air on the TBS Network and Max streaming service.

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Sid Pullar III
SID PULLAR III

Sid Pullar III, born and raised in New York, is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who fell in love with the business when stars like Randy Savage, Ric Flair and Sting captured his imagination. In 2017, he started the Tru Heel Heat Wrestling podcast. Then in 2020, he began his writing for Sportskeeda Wrestling before moving to WrestleTalk in 2021. He is looking to capture his three decades worth of pro wrestling knowledge through his pieces and interviewing various stars.

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