‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey wants to see TNA have more of a worldwide influence on pro wrestling.
Bailey was featured in the latest episode of TNA’s Immersed docuseries. The “Bailey vs. Ali” episode saw ‘Speedball’ talk about his road to TNA and how Québécois talent like himself have faced various obstacles in pro wrestling.
He expanded on those thoughts during a recent interview with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard. Bailey noted that during his five-year ban from the United States, he was forced to travel around the world to continue working. He spent time in countries, like Mexico and Japan, where making a living as a pro wrestler was possible.
However, he also spent time in countries where pro wrestling is more of a side hobby, but those countries continue to model their pro wrestling after what they see in the United States. Highlighting that on Immersed and moving forward, is important to Bailey.
“There’s very much this idea that still happens today within pro wrestling that if you don’t sound like the top performers of the 1990s, you can’t cut a promo. Even if it’s just because your voice is different or you have an accent. There’s a lot of struggles that come with that,” Bailey explained. “And that’s barring the geographical struggles. It’s just the ones that come within, the mental struggles, the finding your place, to being able to relate to those people. And of course, it’s a very big thing in Quebec, it was a very big thing for me. But I think it is important to highlight that for people that want want to become a professional wrestler from all over the world.”
‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey wants to spread the word of professional wrestling
During the interview, Pritchard mentioned Zack Sabre Jr.’s desire to help the Southeast Asian wrestling scene prosper. Bailey agreed and said he’d like to see pro wrestling continue to become more of a worldwide sport.
Fans around the world are hungry for TNA Wrestling, and it’d be great to see TNA go to those countries and integrate with local talent on a bigger scale.
“That is definitely something that I would love to see TNA do in the near future. Go further away from the United States, outside of North America. I know there are plenty of places in Europe that are hungry for TNA. And that’s true for so many other places all over the world that would welcome TNA. I mean, they did a couple of things in Australia last year as well as the tour they did in England, and I think those both went great. So, it would be amazing to see TNA go around the world more and spread the word of professional wrestling.”
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