Former X-Division champion, Mike Bailey reportedly opted not to renew his TNA contract when it expired at the beginning of this month, according to PWInsider. The 34-year-old Bailey dropped the X-Division title to Moose at a recent TV taping, but many were still surprised with the news of his exit, considering that he had been a featured performer during the time that the organization had a rebuild that saw it became strong enough to form a working agreement with NXT.
Despite inking a TNA deal in late-2021, Bailey has spent more than half of his life in the wrestling business, breaking in when he was still in his teenage years in Canada. Because of that, he had a cup of coffee more or less everywhere in North America outside of the two major promotions already, and given his skill set, it makes sense that he brings his talent to the biggest platforms possible.
He had a show stealer performance against Takeshita on night one of former TNA boss, Scott D’Amore’s debut Maple Leaf Pro weekend last month. There’s absolutely no doubt that a bout of the caliber of Takeshita/Bailey should be seen on the biggest stage possible. The biggest aspect that sets Bailey a part from the pack so to speak is that in an era when the majority of those outside of the realm of WWE work a very similar style, Bailey is one of the few that is truly top-tier. He doesn’t just do the moves, he’s precise and graceful enough to be a level above even a talented field of athletes, which should be an indication of why not every modern wrestler should attempt to carbon copy a typical style. When you have half a dozen of the best high spot wrestlers in the world on the roster, you simply doesn’t need a few more dozen that aren’t quite as crisp since the presentation will naturally be diminished by comparison.
At some point, the entire style gets so homogenized, particularly in All Elite Wrestling, that the competitors become interchangeable because the specific wrestlers that are booked are usually only there to do the moves, not to get over as characters using the moves. Bailey, similar to Will Ospreay, is one of the rare exceptions to that, he’s such an incredibly gifted aerial wrestler that just the opportunity to display his skills can get him over with the audience. That’s only possible with the absolutely top-tier of the modern style, which is why Bailey should be considered a valuable commodity for the current market.
Speaking of AEW, the rumor mill suggest that the Khan-owned organization will be where he lands next, and while I completely anticipate that he will continue to work the indy circuit,at least to some degree, as mentioned, the guy is too talented not to work on television somewhere so AEW or WWE are the realistic options in this situation. On one hand, Bailey’s over-the-top style will fit into the mold of All Elite, as that is accepted as a typical part of the presentation for the company, which has yielded positive and negative results. All Elite has offered pro wrestling fans some absolutely incredible matches, but at the same time, the injury rate within the organization is rather high, particularly for the featured stars. I know that money is no object for Tony Khan, but the bottom line of the wrestling business is still to make the most money possible. Revenue and profit are the true barometer of success, not how many stars a match is given. Quite simply, if a talent is on the sidelines with an injury, they can’t be on the shows to draw money for the organization.
So yes, Bailey’s dazzling high spots would fit into AEW immediately, but would that potentially hinder more than help his status?
The reason being is rather simple, and it doesn’t include the risk of injury, as that’s inherent with the aerial style anyway. Bailey would be working a style very similar to many others already on the All Elite roster, and we’ve seen how easy it is for talent to start off strong with the artificial debut pop, only to be lost in the shuffle within a matter of weeks. As spectacular as if he, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bailey had some tremendous matches to kick off his career there before he’s regulated to just another high spot wrestler on the roster, which would subtract from what makes him stand out as a talent to begin with.
On the flip side, if Bailey landed in NXT, I doubt that he would be given the green light to do quite as many dangerous dives, but the spots that he would do there could stand out as some more unique, spotlighting him in a more prominent position in the process. This isn’t a knock on All Elite, but rather to point out how it’s not quite as cut and dry so to speak as it might seem on the surface. I definitely try to avoid being repetitive, but the consistent reality of the situation is the bloated roster continues to be a problem, and I honestly think it could be a pitfall for Bailey within AEW.
That said, I think Bailey would undoubtedly get a chance to shine in All Elite, particularly with a potential rematch with Takeshita, as pro wrestling with that level of in-ring work promoted on main stream television would be tremendous. The downfall would be, I’m not sure any of those potential stellar matches will be translated into a scenario where Bailey is pushed as a bigger star. If anything, I could see one-off segments where he has some insane bouts on pay-per-view once every few months just so Tony can read get the star ratings in The Wrestling Observer newsletter. The flip side would be, at least in my opinion, is that he wouldn’t get the chance to have those epic type of spot fests that cater to the most diehard audience in NXT, but in the long run, he would be established as a bigger star overall through the careful efforts of the WWE promotional machine.
Everyone has different goals within their own career, and if main stream notoriety isn’t what Bailey is looking for, and it’s completely fine if he isn’t then he might prefer the freedom of All Elite Wrestling. Of course, it also comes down to dollars and cents so if Tony offered him a better deal than WWE then it might’ve been an easy decision.
Nothing is confirmed as of yet, and until something official is announced, technically it’s not a done deal. However, I would guess that the speculation about Bailey’s next move is true and that he will be on All Elite programming relatively soon. Bailey is actually scheduled to compete against another newly-signed AEW talent, Shelton Benjamin at the Wrestlecade convention at the end of this month, which would be the week after the Full Gear pay-per-view. It might be a non-factor, but also might be an indication that he might not debut with the company until at least sometime next month. Either way, it will be interesting to see how Bailey is booked in AEW and if he has the chance to fully utilize his skills for the company.
However, I’m very skeptical about the entire situation, especially when you consider that Ricochet, the talented high-flyer that started with the company less than three months ago, was booked on Rampage this past Friday, which is the least-viewed show on the AEW line-up and is also going to be discontinued with the new TV deal.
