On October 31, 2021 at a Destiny Wrestling event in Canada, “Speedball” Mike Bailey officially signed a contract with IMPACT Wrestling – literally on the back of Josh Alexander – whom Bailey had just wrestled.
After the match was over, IMPACT Wrestling Executive Vice President (now President) Scott D’Amore entered the ring and offered him a contract.
Bailey debuted with IMPACT in January 2022 at the company Hard to Kill PPV, taking on Ace Austin, Laredo Kid, & Chris Bey in the Countdown to Hard to Kill pre show.
The Ultimate X match has been a staple in the company, and at IMPACT Destination X in 2008, the company took it to a different level with Elevation X, which was Ultimate X on a platform. AJ Styles and Rhino were the first two participants to ever take part in the match.
Speaking on Cultaholic’s Desert Island Graps, “Speedball” Mike Bailey revealed he wants to take part in an Elevation X match.
“Elevation X really is my favorite. AJ Styles vs. Rhino in Elevation X really is one of my favorite things of all time. One, because it’s completely ridiculous. It’s a terrible idea. I watched it last year when I was doing a Twitch stream to get ready for Ultimate X and I watched all the Ultimate X matches I could find, and I also watched Elevation X. I had seen it, but as I’m re-watching it, I’m like, ‘this is completely ridiculous.’ I then spoke to Rhino about it, and he told me, above and beyond what you see on TV, the structure was shaky and really felt unstable, and it looks terrifying. Somehow, it’s worse. I would love to be part of it because I think it’s an incredibly over-the-top interesting concept,” he said.
H/T Jeremy Lambert from Fightful. Full article here.
Mike Bailey won the IMPACT X Division Title at Slammiversary 2022 – only 6 months after his debut with the company – in an Ultimate X match. He came out on top in a match that consisted of Ace Austin, Alex Zayne, Trey Miguel, Andrew Everett, &
Kenny King.
Mike Bailey competed against Japanese wrestling legend Hiroshi Tanahashi at the IMPACTxNJPW Multiverse United event in March.
He also took part in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Best of Super Jrs tournament, making it to the Finals, but falling short to the winner, Master Wato.
Bailey has a very good chance here to get back into the X Division Title picture when he battles Jonathan Gresham, Alan Angels, Kushida, & Kevin Knight in an Ultimate X match, as the winner gets a shot at the title whenever they want it.
Get your Slammiversary tickets here.
Order SLAMMIVERSARY on FITE here.
Matches announced for Slammiversary Ppv on 7/15:
***Countdown To Slammiversary***
IMPACT DIGITAL MEDIA TITLE
-Joe Hendry (c) vs Kenny King (w/Sheldon Jean)
6 Woman Tag Team Match
-Death Dolls (Courtney Rush/Jessicka) + Jody Threat vs Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, & Jai Vidal
***Main Card***
IMPACT WORLD TITLE
-Alex Shelley (c) vs Nick Aldis
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS WORLD TITLE
-Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Trinity
IMPACT TAG TEAM TITLES
-ABC (c) vs Moose/Brian Myers vs Sami Callihan/Rich Swann vs Subculture
IMPACT X DIVISION TITLE
-Chris Sabin (c) vs Lio Rush
Tag Team Match – Special Enforcer: Darren McCarty
??? & Scott D’Amore vs Bully Ray & Deaner
Ultimate X Match
“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Jonathan Gresham vs Alan Angels vs Kushida vs Kevin Knight
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM TITLES
-The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) (c) vs Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich
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