It was announced over the weekend that “Speedball” Mike Bailey had signed with Impact Wrestling. He spoke with Sports Illustrated about joining the promotion. Here are some of the highlights:
Being close to signing with WWE earlier this year:
“We went through a process and we had some pretty in-depth discussions,” Bailey says. “I didn’t sign a contract. It pretty much went up to that point of me accepting an offer and going through the proceedings that would lead up to me signing for several months, and them deciding they were going in a different direction.”
Josh Alexander:
“Josh is a good starting point for all this—he is a great example of what you can achieve within Impact and as a Canadian pro wrestler,” Bailey says of his fellow Canadian. “Every independent wrestler should be watching people like Josh Alexander. The more I spoke with Josh and people I know at Impact, the more I wanted to be there. The amount of people at Impact I’m dying to work with was another reason to sign. I’ll wrestle Josh Alexander a thousand times and I’ll be happier for it. Trey Miguel is the current X Division champion, and he is brought up to me the most as the one that people want to see me wrestle—and I agree with that. I want to wrestle Chris Sabin, Ace Austin, wrestling and learning from Impact veterans like Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards and Moose, who is the champion, and more. The list is too many to name.”
Signing with the promotion:
“I look forward to starting with Impact Wrestling,” Bailey says. “The response from people has been overwhelming. Not that I didn’t expect the response from the crowd and the internet to be positive, but it was so positive. Some of the comments I’ve read have been so positive that they’ve almost brought me to tears. I love wrestling. And when wrestling works, it works for everyone. It brings people together in a way that is really hard to describe. There are so many ways to fail and it is very unforgiving, which is why it is so satisfying when you succeed.”