“Speedball” Mike Bailey sat down to talk with Denise Salcedo this week to discuss his return to the United States wrestling scene, and what that means for his reputation.
Mike Bailey talking about wrestling again in the United States for the first time in six years:
“It’s a big deal for me. It’s like my first first match back in the U.S. after almost six years,” Bailey said.
“It’s my Impact debut which is now my home for the next several years so it has to be good. I’m usually good at giving myself some leeway that things might go wrong. It won’t be perfect but it’s going to be fine. You can always do it better again later, but no, I was zoned in and I was focused. The pressure was on so I’m glad it went well.”
Bailey explaining that not everybody in the United States knows who he is yet:
“I’m in a weird position when it comes to the U.S. especially on independent bookings that I’ve taken over the last few weeks,” he said.
“I’ve had a mixed reaction of people that know who I am, have followed my work over the last few years, and are just happy to see me and excited. Then there’s a lot of people at some of the shows where the majority of the audience is like ‘We’ve never seen this guy. Why are people so excited?’”
“It’s a weird spot to be in where there are people who don’t know you but also there are expectations you have to deliver. I felt that way at Impact where I got a full entrance, I got a video, and I was put in a match with people that were well established former X-division champions that were in there, and there’s the pressure of people are like, “Okay, this guy, he appears to be a big deal’, and then I have to go and and deliver on that.”
Other topics covered are his story about how his U.S. ban happened, how it changed his career, and whether he was almost signing with WWE, wrestling in Mexico, Japan and Europe.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Denise Salcedo with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
