Impact announces signing of indie fave ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey

In the mid-2010s, Canadian Mike Bailey was a much buzzed about talent who worked all the top independent promotions across the globe. “Speedball” showed off his mix of martial arts-inspired offense and high flying against the scenes biggest stars - guys who are now working for WWE, such as Matt Riddle, Johnny Gargano & WALTER, or anchoring AEW, like Adam Cole, The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega.

But in 2016, Bailey’s rise was stalled when he was arrested trying to enter the United States for an Evolve show. It was said to be common for Canadian wrestlers to make quick trips south of the border to work an indie date without a work visa, but Bailey got caught. The result was a five year travel ban. He kept working, but the buzz died down as he worked strictly for promotions in his home country, and on Ring of Honor’s occasional show in Canada.

You don’t need to be a mathematician to tell that five years have passed since 2016. Earlier this year, a report came out that WWE was working with Bailey to get his visa issue resolved, as part of a plan to sign him. Perhaps that deal was a casualty of the NXT moving away from signing smaller, indie stars, but no matter - it ended up being a Canadian-owned company that films its television in the United States that inked the 31 year old to a deal.

Impact President Scott D’Amore showed up at Destiny Wrestling’s show in Mississauga, Ontario last night (Oct. 31), offering Speedball a chance to remind global audiences what he can do.

The man he wrestled in Destiny’s ring, former Impact World champ Josh Alexander, is bullish on the signing.

His partner Veda Scott is very proud of him.

How high can Speedball fly in Impact? We’re about to find out.