At AEW Redemption, Speedball Mike Bailey climbed both the metaphorical ladder and a real one, defeating The Beast Mortos, El Clon, Jack Perry, Komander, and Nick Wayne in a wild ladder match to secure an AEW International Championship match. Naturally, Bailey was basking in the glow of victory at the post-Redemption media scrum, but it wasn’t just because of their victory. Instead, it was mostly because the victory came in Bailey’s hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, allowing them to achieve this victory in the arena they came to watch wrestling events as a child, in front of Bailey’s family and friends.
“It goes so far beyond just getting to perform in the Bell Centre for the first time,” Bailey said. “This is where I came to see wrestling as a child. The first wrestling show I ever saw was here, and I came throughout the years. So it was obviously a huge dream to wrestle in the Bell Centre. But this was such a huge night for many reasons, right?
“Not only was it a huge match, it was a huge victory. And getting to challenge for the International Championship means a lot. Not only, like, huge reception, huge victory, hometown crowd. In fact, my mother, tonight, was in the audience. And I’ve been wrestling for 20 years, and it was the first time she ever came to see me wrestle at a show, which, you know, silly, but it’s a huge deal.”
Despite their differences, Bailey admitted that former tag team partner Kevin Knight getting to main event against AEW World Champion Kenny Omega also filled Bailey with a sense of pride, especially when fans chanted “Speedball’s better!” at Knight. As such, it wasn’t surprising when Bailey, who has often said their best match is their next match, admitted it was a career highlight when they were asked to rank it.
“Number one, by far,” Bailey said.
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