Mike Bailey Discusses His Preferred Wrestling Style

In 2022, "Speedball" Mike Bailey reached new heights in his professional wrestling career by continuing to grind out impressive in-ring performances all over the independent circuit. This landed him a contract with Impact Wrestling, and he rode momentum into the summer, winning the company's X-Division Championship at Slammiversary in an Ultimate X match. As his fanbase grows, followers may be interested to know how Bailey got attracted to the art of pro wrestling, which he went into detail about on a new "Insight with Chris Van Vliet."

"The thing that I never had in any combat sports that I did was, you know, that anger, that rage, that desire to beat my opponent and knock him out. I just wanted to win; I wanted to be technically superior and win, and that was much more interesting to me," Bailey said. "And I never had any animosity towards my opponents, which is, again, very much reflected in my professional wrestling and my persona onscreen. But I never had any animosity, like if they tried to cheat ... I think that's why pro wrestling worked better for me than actual competitive combat sports because I prefer teamwork to outright competition. I prefer working together in order to achieve a goal [rather] than trying to beat up another person."

There was a time when Bailey's in-ring future was in question due to his arrest for trying to enter the United States to compete for Evolve Wrestling in 2016, despite not having the proper visa. He was banned from the U.S. for five years, forcing him to consider what alternate careers he might pursue. "Stunts and stuff is something that I almost went into at one point and was certainly interested in ... but pro wrestling really fits my personality well and much better than competing in MMA would have."

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.