“Speedball” Mike Bailey has had a successful wrestling career across numerous promotions, including TNA, where he’s a former three-time X-Division Champion, as well as in AEW, where he’s held the trios titles twice. Bailey recently sat down for a Q&A video, answering fan-submitted questions, on his YouTube channel, where he revealed that he knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at just 7-years-old. That journey wasn’t always clear, however.
“‘This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to be the world’s most famous pro wrestler,'” Bailey said. “I was just watching wrestling on TV at the time and be like, ‘Ah. This is where I belong… I’m going to be doing exactly that.’ As I got older, as I kind of grew into my adult body, and realized I did not look like the people who were wrestling on TV at the time. I kinda had to take a good, long look and be like, ‘Yeah, maybe this isn’t super realistic of a career.'”
Bailey explained that thought hit him when he was just about to start training. He said thankfully he had started seeing more of the independent scene, including Ring of Honor, that made him find more wrestlers who were relatable to him. The Canadian credited Quebec’s Kevin Steen, now Kevin Owens, and El Generico, now Sami Zayn, for helping him see that.
“[They] did not fit the mold and were making their living as professional wrestlers,” he said. “The way they did their career was very different. They made their livings as independent wrestlers, and they did for many years before they got signed. By the time they did, the wrestling landscape was very, very different.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Speedball” Mike Bailey on YouTube and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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