IMPACT star and former X-Division Champion Mike Bailey recently appeared on Cultaholic’s Desert Island Graps program to hype up this Saturday’s Slammiversary pay-per-view, where the Speedball will be competing in the Ultimate X match alongside Jonathan Gresham, Kevin Knight, Angels, and KUSHIDA.
During the interview, Bailey reflected on the infamous Elevation X matchup between AJ Styles and Rhino from 2008, a match that was Ultimate X but up on a platform. He says he would love to participate in one of these matches even though it looked ridiculous and completely unsafe.
Elevation X really is my favorite. AJ Styles vs. Rhino in Elevation X really is one of my favorite things of all time. One, because it’s completely ridiculous. It’s a terrible idea. I watched it last year when I was doing a Twitch stream to get ready for Ultimate X and I watched all the Ultimate X matches I could find, and I also watched Elevation X. I had seen it, but as I’m re-watching it, I’m like, ‘this is completely ridiculous.’
Bailey later reveals that he spoke with Rhino about the match and found out that he felt as unsafe as it looked.
I then spoke to Rhino about it, and he told me, above and beyond what you see on TV, the structure was shaky and really felt unstable, and it looks terrifying. Somehow, it’s worse. I would love to be part of it because I think it’s an incredibly over-the-top interesting concept.
Last month, Wrestling Headlines exclusively spoke with Bailey about the future of IMPACT and how he thinks they should focus on online content rather than a television deal. You can read that full interview here.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)