Mike Bailey reflects on his epic IMPACT X-Division championship reign from 2022.
The “Speedball” recorded 12 successful defenses of the prestigious X-Division title despite only holding it for 110 days. During a recent interview with Fightful, Bailey commented on that incredible run, which was eventually ended by Frankie Kazarian.
Absolutely. I think I was headed there. I was well on my way with Frankie Kazarian, who I lost the Impact Championship to, but he was an absolute X-Division Championship legend and an X-Division legend. If I could beat Frankie Kazarian, then it’s like, who’s next? Then just working my way through those ranks was the ultimate goal. Then to challenge for the World Championship while being X-Division Champion, which is the answer to why I didn’t go for option C, which is question that is asked often and the answer is I wanted both.
Later in the interview Bailey spoke about this rivalry with the Octopus, Jonathan Gresham.
I mean, the reason why I think he and I work so well as a team is because we are both the best in the world at, arguably, wrestling altogether but certainly and objectively the best in the world at the kind of wrestling that we do, which is very specific, but very different. So that’s a very, very complex puzzle to take on.
The conversation then shifted to Bailey’s ban from the united states, which officially ended in 2021. He says that many people thought he could only wrestle in Canada at that time.
That’s what everyone says, which is wrong. It’s absolutely not. It’s the opposite. It’s not wrestling in the United States, but it’s wrestling everywhere else in the world outside of Canada.
Bailey will be challenging for the X-Division Championship, currently held by Trey Miguel, at this weekend’s Rebellion pay-per-view. The latest card for that event can be found here.