Mike Bailey Discusses Upcoming Matches With Kota Ibushi & Will Ospreay

‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey talks about his big upcoming matches.

WrestleMania weekend has become a hotbed for independent wrestling in recent years. Many wrestlers have taken advantage of this opportunity and have made a big name for themselves during Mania’ weekend, including ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, who had nine matches in a span of three days during during the week of WrestleMania 38 in 2022.

Bailey is set to have another massive Mania’ week this year, as he currently has matches against Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay on the docket.

In a new interview with Tru Heel Heat, Bailey first previewed his match with Kota Ibushi.

“No, it is absolutely not a match that I sought out because I did not think it was possible, nor did so many other people, which it came as a great surprise. But of course, Ibushi I been watching for a long time. I was a big fan of his when he was back in DDT, which is the promotion in which I spend a lot of time in Japan. And also it’s BloodSport so it’s a different set of rules so I have no idea what to expect from Ibushi for that one. But the match for which I am most excited is at the IMPACT/New Japan show, my match with Will Ospreay, who I regard as the best wrestler in the world right now and so maybe of all time.”

Bailey went on to elaborate on his upcoming match with Will Ospreay, which will occur at the joint IMPACT Wrestling & NJPW show, Multiverse United: Only The Strong Survive.

“Yeah this is, there’s a lot on the line. This is a high pressure match because I truly believe, and this is a long tangent, that pro wrestling is better now than it has ever been, which I know is a controversial take. But if I’m your favorite wrestler then you’re probably in agreement with me. For many reasons, wrestling is the best it’s ever been. The main reason most likely is because pro wrestling is open to everyone now. But pro wrestling is become more and more international and there’s so much more access to information with professional wrestling. You can watch, any pro wrestler now can watch any other pro wrestler from anywhere in the world so it’s a lot easier to put on better matches given what you already know and what you seen. And so I think Will Ospreay is the best pro wrestler now and maybe the greatest wrestler of all time. I think it’s hard to have an accurate self assessment again, but I like my matches the best, I love my matches. I’m good enough of a pro wrestler to be in control enough to decide what I want to do and I really enjoy what I do. And I’m glad you feel the same way in being my own biggest fan here (laughs). But I think that the kind of match that me and Will Ospreay could be regarded as the greatest professional wrestling match of all time and that’s definitely what I’m gonna shoot for, you know. If it’s gonna be regarded as such is not up to me, but that’s what my goal is for this one.”

In a singles capacity, Bailey and Ospreay have faced off four times in the past. Their most recent match came at a RevPro show back in August 2022. Ospreay has a 3-1 record against Bailey, with Bailey’s only win coming from a Battle Of Los Angeles tournament semi-final match from 2015.

Elsewhere in the interview, Bailey said that he wants to win back the X-Division Championship and dethrone IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander. To learn more, click here.

Special thanks to Tru Heel Heat for the quote(s).