Mike Bailey Says the X-Division Is the Best in Pro Wrestling

– During a recent interview with Steph Franchomme for Steel Chair, Impact Wrestling talent Mike Bailey discussed the X-Division, being banned from working in the United States for five years, and more. Below are some highlights.

Mike Bailey on the X-Divison: “I think it’s the best division in professional wrestling right now. The amount of talent that is competing for the X-Division Championship is above and beyond anything else in the world right now with the different styles, the amount of experience, the varying degrees, and the various backgrounds you’ve got. A lot of New Japan wrestlers right now are coming in and competing with X-Division guys. You have people with a Lucha Libre background and people with a real international background, as well as Alex Shelley. You’ve got people that have been in Impact Wrestling for years, like Chris Sabin and Rich Swann, who really bring that Impact X-Division style. The mix of it is perfect, and I think right now everyone in the division is doing a fantastic job representing what the X-Division has always been about, which is action-packed high-level matches unlike anything else you see on TV right now.”

Mike Bailey on being banned from working in the US for five years: “To be perfectly honest, I think it’s hard to say. It’s hard to imagine what my career would have been like. Had I been able to go to the United States for these five years, had I, for example, been spying somewhere else in or even signed with IMPACT Wrestling in 2016? It forced me to reorient my career, change my path and do something else. Ultimately, it worked out. I know I’m super happy with the way my career progressed, and that I had to go and get experience from everywhere around the world that I could, and then bring it back to the US. But I don’t know, I have no idea, maybe I would have wrestled in the US a couple of years longer, and then won the lottery in the United States and become a millionaire. You never know, a million things could have happened. I don’t spend time on what-ifs, but all I can say is I’m super happy with the way things happened and where I am now.”

On continuing to wrestle overseas during the ban: “To be perfectly honest, I think it’s hard to say. It’s hard to imagine what my career would have been like. Had I been able to go to the United States for these five years, had I, for example, been spying somewhere else in or even signed with Impact Wrestling in 2016? It forced me to reorient my career, change my path and do something else. Ultimately, it worked out. I know I’m super happy with the way my career progressed, and that I had to go and get experience from everywhere around the world that I could, and then bring it back to the US. But I don’t know, I have no idea, maybe I would have wrestled in the US a couple of years longer, and then won the lottery in the United States and become a millionaire. You never know, a million things could have happened. I don’t spend time on what-ifs, but all I can say is I’m super happy with the way things happened and where I am now.”

Bailey is set to compete in an Ultimate X Match for the X-Division title at Impact Slammiversary 2022 scheduled for June 19 in Nashville, Tennessee.