Mike Bailey believes social media can be an important tool for wrestlers looking to build their names, even if he has some strong feelings about one platform in particular.
During a recent interview with POST Wrestling’s John Pollock (see video below), Bailey reflected on the five-year period in which he was unable to enter the United States after previously attempting to work in the country without a work visa.
With the biggest wrestling market in the world essentially closed to him during that stretch, Bailey said he had to find other ways to remain visible to American fans while continuing to wrestle internationally.
“If you look at all the great Canadian pro wrestlers through history, like if you look at Chris Jericho, if you look at Kenny Omega, if you look at guys like that, the story really is making it out of Canada, going around the world to build up your name and then come back,” Bailey said.
“And that’s what I had to face when I was banned from the US for five years. I had to look ahead down the line knowing, okay, I won’t be wrestling in the biggest market for professional wrestling for a very long time.”
Rather than allowing the situation to stall his career, Bailey focused on growing his name online while working in places such as Japan, Mexico and Europe.
“So, how can I continue to build up my name, to build up my brand, to let people know who I am, to still keep that connection with the American audience while I’m wrestling in Japan and in Mexico and in Europe.”
Bailey believes social media has made the wrestling world more connected and said performers who fail to take advantage of it could be hurting themselves. That doesn’t mean he’s a fan of everything that comes with it, however.
“And I think that the world of professional wrestling is connected through social media. I think it’s a wonderful thing. I think wrestlers are doing themselves a huge disservice by not leveraging it to their full advantage,” he continued.
“And Twitter, for many, many reasons, is an awful, awful place. The algorithm is politically biased and ruined, and most people on it are just rage baiting and bad and trolling, and it’s a terrible place.”
Despite his issues with the platform, Bailey said he feels a responsibility to use his own presence in a positive way and interact with people as himself rather than treating social media purely as another promotional outlet.
“And as a real human being with some level of notoriety, I mean, I’m just a pro wrestler, right? I’m not a government account. I have a responsibility to try to be positive, to try to speak like a real human being and engage with other real human beings on there.“
Bailey feels that approach has allowed him to establish an identity within the wrestling community beyond what fans see from him inside the ring.
“And I think that I have formed a place for myself within the pro wrestling community beyond just what you see on TV. And I think that has helped my career a lot. I think the era of only being a pro wrestler 15 minutes a week on TV is gone.”
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