TNA's Mike Bailey Details Incident That Earned Him Five-Year United States Ban

TNA Wrestling star "Speedball" Mike Bailey has built up a reputation for incredibly strong in-ring work over the last few years, despite the fact that he was barred from entering the United States from 2016 to 2021. Appearing on "Talk Is Jericho," Bailey explained that his banning came after border agents discovered he was attempting to work an EVOLVE event without a work visa.

"So [I was] crossing the border as I had many, many times, saying ... I'm gonna do a tryout," Bailey said. "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."

According to Bailey, he had successfully made it through the border to wrestle previous times without incident, but something had apparently clued off the agents that he was worth looking into. Bailey was told he could make an official statement to avoid jail time and the wrestler complied, without knowing there were additional consequences of his admitting guilt.

"I didn't even know that a five-year ban was on the table," Bailey continued. "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."

Bailey was issued the ban on-site, and later learned that he could have potentially been given a lifetime ban from entering the United States. Thankfully, Bailey stayed busy working outside of the country in the interim, making a bigger name for himself in promotions such as DDT and RevPro. Since his re-entry, Bailey has become an important player for TNA as well as GCW.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.