“Speedball” Mike Bailey is the TNA X-Division Champion. The man defeated Mustafa Ali at Slammiversary 2024 and spoke with Brass Ring Media’s Zack Heydorn about the match, which is the subject of the new TNA Immersed documentary.
In the interview, Bailey talks about preparing for a major match like the one against Ali. He also spoke in detail about how the match came together, what it was like watching a documentary on what he calls his “best match ever,” and dishes on what it’s like to see TNA working with NXT and the WWE.
Below are excerpts of the interview and you can watch the entire thing right here:
Zack: You've got a really cool piece of content dropping on the TNA YouTube channel, the Immersed documentary with you and Mustafa Ali and your match at Slammiversary as the focus. I want to start there. Talk to me about that match. How do you feel here a few weeks out from it, as you sit and reflect back?
Mike Bailey: I mean, watching the Immersed about the match really helped put it in perspective for me. That's my best match in TNA. That is the best match of my career. I mean, which is a lot compared to the previous matches I've had that really stood out. I mean, I had the 2022 match of the year against Josh Alexander, 2023 match of the year against Will Ospreay, and I think that match was just as good, if not better, than those matches. And what you saw at Slammiversary in those 20 minutes from bell to bell in the ring is really just the tip of the iceberg, and it kind of doesn't do it justice in a weird way. It was a match that was already amazing, but like, even if you look beyond that right there is a several month long build up to it. There's Ali's entire X-Division Championship run. There's the story with Trent and everything that we put behind the match, but it isn't until you've seen the Immersed that you get the full story. And I feel like that really completes it. That match in itself, which I think is one of the best viewing experiences that professional wrestling can offer is incomplete without Immersed, where you get to see just how much there is behind a match like this – the fact that beyond the two performers there's an entire group of very complex human beings who all have very different stories that are going to be culminating at Slammiversary. And I couldn't be happier that it got presented and documented for everyone to see.
Zack: Do you, knowing that the match is going to be featured in Immersed in that kind of pull the curtain back documentary, do you guys wrestle the match any differently? Do you kind of have a different take on how you want to present the actual match itself, knowing that it's going to be a subject of some kind of intense behind the scenes content?
Mike Bailey: I don't think so. I can't speak for Ali, but to me, professional wrestling is about maximizing. It's about making the most out of any given situation, whether it's a six minute match with no deeper meaning to it (or something bigger). I want to give my 100%. I want to make sure that it's excellent and I've done everything in my power to make the most out of whatever little precious TV time I'm actually getting. And I approach matches like this with the same mindset. I want to make the most out of it. It's just that the field is so much bigger in cases like this, where we're going to be wrestling for a lot longer, in front of 4000 people, and will have stuff that exists beyond the match itself. And I can't say that we end up working harder, but I think Mustafa Ali and I both put 100% behind every single performance, and it's just that the 100% of this opportunity is a lot bigger than it is – than it has been literally any other time. But I can't say that we worked harder than we would have otherwise. We just always give it 1,000%.
Zack: You mentioned Earl Hebner. How did it feel to be a part of that Montreal 1997 saga? Not directly, but part of what the story you tried to tell in there was Earl Hebner coming back to Montreal and kind of vanquishing those demons. And here you guys are a part of that. How did it feel and how was it working with Earl?
Mike Bailey: It's very funny, because I started watching my wrestling when I was very young, but I don't remember the screw job happening and being aware of it happening in real time. And I've been to the Molson Center, now Bell Center, several times to watch wrestling shows. And even when I do watch it back, it still feels very remote. The Montreal Screwjob, to me, feels like this mythical event, right? It doesn't even feel like it really happened. It doesn't feel like I was a part of it. But it didn't up until I saw Earl Hebner and I got to speak about it and I didn't imagine that he would care. I thought it was going to be he's doing a thing. It's Earl Hebner. What does he care? Because if you think about it, Earl Hebner really is the most famous professional wrestling referee of all time. And I don't think there's anyone that even comes close. And to see how much it actually meant to him and how we actually deeply had very strong feelings about being back in Montreal after such a long time, and how happy he was that he was gonna get to do this and get his redemption. I mean, that made it feel real and connected in a way that I absolutely did not expect.
Zack: Did you like working with him? The Montreal Screwjob was a mythical event, as you put it, did you go back to Mike Bailey as a little kid watching wrestling working with Earl? Or were you more like professional Mike Bailey, let's get this job done for Earl, but also for the match and for the company?
Mike Bailey: I mean, as I talk about in the documentary at length, I am an extremely – I don't want to say emotionless, but practical person – especially when it comes to professional wrestling. It is so incredibly difficult to put on a performance like this and you have so many different variables to control and things that you need to be mindful of. So, it's very difficult for me to just take in the moment and just enjoy. However, this match was different, right? I had some downtime in the match, to be in the ring and look at the faces in the audience, and it's surreal watching Immersed back. This is my hometown. So, this is my crowd, my people. It's Montreal, but it's more than that. It's like people I know. And when I see people I know – I mean that there was not a section of the audience in which I could look where I did not see someone that I knew. And I remember when Earl came out looking in the direction of a few people that I knew and seeing their reaction, and that made it real for me. That was a moment where I had a very rare like, oh shit.
Zack: You've been around TNA for a while and TNA has a new, budding relationship with NXT and the WWE. What to you is a benefit of that NXT/WWE partnership from the TNA perspective?
Mike Bailey: Borders and barriers are generally a bad thing, especially when it comes to something like professional wrestling. I mean, there's so many great matches and great pairings that aren't able to happen for contractual reasons, which makes perfect sense, but also, the wrestling world would be better without those barriers. And I mean, it's a great, great opportunity for people from TNA to go on NXT. Look at what it's done for Joe Hendry, who was already becoming the most famous wrestler in the world, but getting to be himself on NXT is good for him. It's good for TNA. The fact that these relationships get to happen in 2024 is surreal. It's fantastic. I think just everyone is going to grow from it. There's no other way to say those barriers are bad. Everyone should wrestle everyone and that would make everyone that much better.
Zack: Is there anybody in NXT that you'd like to work with?
Mike Bailey: Yeah, I think there's many people. If I was to have to narrow it down to one, I would say Trick Williams. I think stylistically, what he's doing is extremely exciting, and what he does is very different. And I think he's absolutely fantastic and he's definitely on the way up. I think he and I would surprise a lot of people.
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I enjoyed reading the text of the interview. It reminded me of reading the old wrestling magazine interviews from decades past but more revealing of the actual wrestler. I hope to read more interviews like this one!