‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey’s U.S. Travel Ban Expiring This Month

‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey’s U.S. travel ban is finally set to expire this month. The Canadian star will soon be free to work without restriction.

In March 2016, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Bailey ‘got busted trying to get into the U.S.’ to compete for Evolve. He was subsequently banned from entering the U.S. at all for the next five years. The Observer reported that he was in the process of obtaining a visa through CZW at the time of his ban, however the process was going extremely slowly and would have forced him to miss the Evolve booking.

Since the ban, Bailey has been a consistent fixture on the independent scene outside of the U.S. Appearing in Europe for wXw, in the U.K. for OTT and in Japan for DDT, the ‘Speedball’ has continued to build his brand despite the major limitation of being unable to work in the business’ biggest market.

It now seems to be just a matter of weeks until Mike Bailey’s travel ban is lifted. Fans of the star will no doubt be looking forward to his return to U.S. soil, though his bookings may be limited due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still just 30 years old, the highly-rated star no doubt has many years of his career ahead of him. However, should Bailey wish to wrestle regularly in the U.S. any time soon, he would likely need to join one of the major promotions airing on television. The two largest promotions, it seems, are not stopping recruitment any time soon.

With Tony Khan recently confirming that AEW will have four weekly shows in 2021, could we see the ‘Speedball’ join up with former PWG comrades such as Chuck Taylor and The Young Bucks? Though their roster already boasts considerable depth, the company continues to add new stars on a regular basis. Similarly, WWE recently announced their largest performance center class ever.

Should AEW wish to pursue Bailey, their efforts could be helped by the star’s admission that he wants another match with Kenny Omega. Speaking to Wrestling Headlines, the ‘Speedball’ discussed a previous match between the two and what it taught him:

‘If you look at the match with Kenny Omega…that’s a very special one to me because it was one of those moments where I realised, “Oh…his level of thinking of pro-wrestling is levels above mine.” We were still able to have a great match despite my shortcomings, but since then…what was missing I learned in DDT. I went to the same place in Japan that he want and I learned a lot there and I’ve stepped my game up a lot just learning from the same people that he did. It’s kind of hard to rewatch knowing what it could be now, but I just wanna run it back. That’s the main thing.’

h/t to heelbynature.com for the transcription

Wherever Bailey ends up, his fans will likely just be pleased to see him work without restriction once more.