Speedball Mike Bailey has officially parted ways with TNA Wrestling and is preparing for the next chapter in his wrestling career.
Bailey’s contract expired at the beginning of this month. He was absent from TNA’s recent television tapings in Fayetteville, NC, and his profile has been removed from the TNA website.
Since losing the X-Division title to Moose at the October 27 TNA Impact tapings, Bailey has participated in several independent wrestling events, notably for GCW and DEFY.
Last week, Bailey filed a trademark application for his ring name with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Rumors suggest he may be joining All Elite Wrestling (AEW), as he was seen backstage at an AEW event in June 2024, visiting friends.
Bailey remains active on Twitch under the handle @SpeedballBailey and will wrestle for GCW this Friday at Gateway to the Death in St. Louis.
Check out our exclusive interview with Speedball Mike Bailey from last year:
‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey is pleased to be a part of the TNA Wrestling roster as the promotion encourages talent to be themselves in the best possible way.
Since arriving in TNA, Bailey has quickly asserted himself as one to watch with two X-Division championship reigns to his name. Not only that, Bailey’s Bound for Glory 2023 epic with Will Ospreay would for a time be the highest-rated match from TNA Wrestling, earning 5.25 stars from Dave Meltzer.
Bailey has evidently done well in TNA and is pleased to be a part of a company that seeks to help others find themselves. Speaking to SE Scoops as part of the TNA Press Pass, the Canadian addressed how TNA helps amplify the real-life personalities of its roster.
“The art of professional wrestling is a great tool for self-betterment. I have a lot of students that I have seen really discover themselves as people, not just as pro wrestlers, but through amplifying their own personalities in the ring and gaining confidence. [They have become] better versions of themselves through professional wrestling. Ultimately, that’s the goal. To inspire people.
“And I think where that ties into TNA is that it’s been a platform where pro wrestlers come in and are allowed to be themselves. They’re allowed to be who they are and TNA amplifies that. And I think that, philosophically, is a beautiful thing.”
Bailey has big plans for his future in TNA Wrestling. During the Press Pass, Bailey added he plans to regain the X-Division Championship alongside winning the World Tag Team and TNA World Championship. Bailey will certainly be one to watch especially with TNA Slammiversary coming to his native Canada in Montreal this July.
Popular free agent Nic Nemeth has quickly made an impact in TNA Wrestling. He made his shocking debut at TNA Hard To Kill on January 13 and put the roster on notice. Two months later, the company granted him the opportunity to challenge for the TNA World Championship at their next premium live event.
On the March 14 episode of TNA Wrestling, Nemeth was involved in a tag team match alongside Speedball Mountain (‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey & Trent Seven) against The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) and Steve Maclin. After Nemeth won the match, TNA World Champion Moose, Eddie Edwards, and Brian Myers attacked the ‘Babyfaces.’
Moose made sure to hit the former WWE talent with his title and celebrated as the show went off the air. After the episode ended, TNA announced on Twitter that Moose would defend the TNA World Championship against Nemeth at TNA Rebellion on April 20.
The upcoming title opportunity will be Nemeth’s second since leaving WWE. On February 23, he defeated David Finlay at New Japan Pro Wrestling The New Beginning in Sapporo to win the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. A win over Moose would be impressive, as he would win two titles from TNA and NJPW in less than two months.
That said, Moose is still early in his reign, and TNA may not have him lose it this quickly. Nemeth is also not signed exclusively to the company, which may hurt his chances of winning the TNA World Championship. Regardless, the match has the potential to be exciting, and fans will be interested if Nemeth wins.
More Matches Announced For TNA Rebellion
Although TNA announced Moose’s next championship defense, they had another match to make official. On Twitter, TNA shared that Edwards and Myers would defend the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Speedball Mountain at the next PLE.
Speedball Mountain has been building momentum as a team, so it seemed like a matter of time before they earned a title opportunity. Edwards and Myers won their championship at TNA Sacrifice on March 8 by defeating ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey). It may be early for another title change, but Speedball Mountain will present an exciting challenge at TNA Rebellion.
The upcoming PLE looks like an interesting show that fans may not want to miss. Nemeth will have a chance to make history by winning his first TNA World Championship.
TNA will now be overseen by Anthony Cicione, who is the company’s new President in addition to being Anthem Entertainment’s President. The promotion’s next big event will be this week’s No Surrender pay-per-view. The card for the upcoming show is as follows:
The System (Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) (with Alisha Edwards) vs. Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kushida and Kevin Knight)
Chris Sabin (c) vs. Mustafa Ali (TNA X-Division Championship)
Jordynne Grace (c) vs. Gisele Shaw (TNA Knockouts Championship)
Decay (Havok and Rosemary) (c) vs. MK Ultra (Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly) (TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships)
PCO vs. Kon
Josh Alexander vs. Simon Gotch
ABC (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) (c) vs. Grizzled Young Vets (James Drake and Zack Gibson) (TNA World Tag Team Championships)
Moose (c) (with Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers) vs. Alex Shelley (with Kevin Knight and Kushida) (No Surrender Rules Match, TNA World Championship)
West Coast Pro Wrestling held its live event, West Coast Best Coast, on March 4 at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco, California.
The event had West Coast Pro Champion Titus Alexander defend his title against Nick Wayne in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Alexander and Wayne went to a time-limit draw the last time they wrestled against each other. Another match on the card had “Speedball” Mike Bailey taking on Timothy Thatcher. WWE Hall of Famer Lita attended to help crown the new West Coast Pro Women’s Champion as Masha Slamovich faced Sandra Moone.
For fans that want to watch West Coast Pro Wrestling: West Coast Best Coast, you can subscribe to IWTV for $9.99.
Following an historic run in New Japan Pro Wrestling from 2009 through 2023, Kota Ibushi would collect nearly every accolade and title possible. Ibushi would hold the IWGP World Heavyweight, Heavyweight, Intercontinental, Junior Heavyweight, Junior Heavyweight Tag, and World Tag Team Championships.
Kota Ibushi officially became a free agent on Wednesday, February 1, 2023 following a near 15-year run with the company both before and after a brief run in WWE in 2016 where he competed in the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic, where he was defeated by the tournament’s eventual winner TJ Perkins in the event’s semifinals.
GCW Collective 2023 Schedule
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 takes place on Thursday, March 30 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California at 4:00 p.m. local time. The event will be part of GameChanger Wrestling’s annual ‘GCW Collective’ during WrestleMania 39 weekend.
Thursday, March 30
Santino Bros Wrestling (11:00 a.m. PDT)
Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 (4:00 p.m. PDT)
DDT Pro-Wrestling (8:00 p.m. PDT)
For The Culture (11:59 p.m. PDT)
Friday, March 31
Jimmy Lloyd’s Degeneration-F (11:00 a.m. PDT)
DDT vs. GCW (3:00 p.m. PDT)
Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7 (8:00 p.m. PDT)
Emo Fight (11:59 p.m. PDT)
Saturday, April 1
Effy’s Big Gay Brunch: LA (11:00 a.m. PDT)
Gringo Loco’s The WRLD on Lucha (9:00 p.m. PDT)
Sunday, April 2
The Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame (12:00 p.m. PDT)
SEScoops will continue to provide any updates on Kota Ibushi’s free agency status as they become available.