TNA Star Reveals Incident that Earned Him Five-Year Ban In The United States

TNA Wrestling star Mike Bailey, also known as “Speedball”, has garnered a reputation for his exceptional in-ring skills over the past few years despite being barred from entering the United States from 2016 to 2021 and was even in talks for a WWE contract at one point.

During an appearance on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Bailey recounted his ban after border agents discovered he was attempting to work an EVOLVE event without a proper work visa. The agents took his phone and evaluated it for an hour, catching his lie and slapping him with a ban straight away.

“So [I was] crossing the border as I had many, many times, saying … I’m gonna do a tryout. They pulled out my phone and kind of took it to the back of the room, and spent an hour with it, and then came back and were like, ‘We know you’re lying. We know you’re getting paid.’ So that was a five-year ban right then.”

Mike mentioned that he had previously crossed the border to wrestle without any issues, but something had tipped off the border agents this time. He was told he could make an official statement to avoid jail time, and he complied, unaware of the additional consequences of admitting guilt.

“I didn’t even know that a five-year ban was on the table. I’d never heard of that happening to any pro wrestlers. I’d heard of many, many people being turned around because they were suspected and flagged and were unable to go. … I kind of just complied and gave them the whole story.”

The TNA star was issued the ban on the spot and later learned that he could have faced a lifetime ban from entering the United States. Fortunately, he stayed active by working outside the country and making a name for himself in promotions such as DDT and RevPro. Since his re-entry, Bailey has become a significant player for TNA and GCW and is looking to make a huge impact with a stint free of any more restrictions.

What are your thoughts on Mike Bailey’s reason that earned him a five year ban in the United States? Sound off in the comments!