Mike Bailey Addresses 5-Year Ban From Wrestling In The United States

In 2016, it was reported that "Speedball" Mike Bailey was banned from entering the United States of America for five years after he attempted to enter the country without the correct working visa in place. As a result, the Canadian wrestler continued to work on the independent circuit in his home country, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. Bailey has now reflected on his five-year ban from the United States. 

"The plan at the time was, you know, I am finally wrestling in front of people [in the United States] that could make decisions and could change my career," Bailey said on the "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" podcast. "If you look at everyone that was on those PWG [Pro Wrestling Guerrilla] shows with me in that period, most of them went to 'NXT' or New Japan, or are now in AEW ... So to go from the realization that that's not going to happen for you, at least not for five years, is, of course, very difficult to deal with."

After his five-year ban was over, Bailey signed a contract with Impact Wrestling; he debuted for the promotion on January 8 during the Hard to Kill 2022 pre-show, defeating Chris Bey, Ace Austin, and Laredo Kid in a four-way match. That same month, Bailey made his debut for Game Changer Wrestling, losing to Tony Deppen. At Impact's Slammiversary pay-per-view in July, the 32-year-old became the Impact X Division Champion by overcoming Ace Austin, Alex Zayne, Kenny King, Andrew Everett, and Trey Miguel in an Ultimate X match; Bailey lost the title to Frankie Kazarian at the Bound for Glory event in October.

If you use any quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.