5 days ago
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‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey knows he’s working to impress two different audiences.
Recently, the AEW star mentioned that his finishing move was inspired by an episode of Adventure Time. He also shared that the inspiration for a recent outfit that he wore on AEW Dynamite was inspired by the Tekken character, King.
During a recent interview with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard, Bailey spoke about how he comes up with these various homages. Does the idea come before the attire, or vice versa? Bailey said it’s a little bit of both.
“Yes and no. I think everything good in pro wrestling just came naturally, right? You can’t force it. I think for the most part, it’s just things that I like that kind of seep out into my art. My costumes and my gears always have some kind of specific inspiration,” Bailey explained. “It’s more about who I am as a person. I just do things that I like and when something works, I let it come naturally. I don’t force it. But I am glad that I have a platform where people recognize and appreciate that now more than ever.”
‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey ensures his matches are understood by both loyal and new fans
Bailey went into more detail about his mindset for getting fans involved in his work. He noted that you have to cater to new and dedicated fans. Bailey is a near-20-year veteran on the indie scene around the world, but knows not everyone in the United States will still know him.
“For example, when I am doing an independent wrestling show in the US, a lot of the people don’t even know who ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey is. When they see me come out of the curtain, a huge part of the audience is people that are just out looking for a good time. So, it is important that my match is fully understood by that segment of the population that is watching,” he said.
“Also, I’m going to use clips from my match on social media. I am going to make a vlog where I talk about things. I’m going to watch the match back on my Twitch stream eventually. Then we’ll get to talk about the intricacies and the references and really go deep with my audience. [These] people who know and kind of followed the story a lot closely, what everything is about. Trying to please both of those segments is a very interesting thing. I am happy with AEW now, that an even bigger part of the audience is catching on to all the references and every little thing that makes up Speedball Mike Bailey.”
Watch our full interview with ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey below:
