Unlikely WWE champion hailed as ‘new Samoa Joe’ of TNA Wrestling’s X Division-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

TNA Wrestling fan favourite Speedball Mike Bailey would love to see rising WWE star Oba Femi as part of the X Division.

The current X Division Champion is proud to be carrying on a legacy built by the likes of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, and he thinks the NXT North American Champion could be a perfect fit with TNA and WWE working together more in recent months.

Bailey – who uses he/they pronouns – exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘Of course, AJ Styles would be the dream. He just had a an amazing match with Naomichi Marufuji over in NOAH, a great, long and storied rematch that they had over there.

‘But when I look at NXT, I see guys like Trick Williams, who I think is really standing out right now, looking absolutely amazing.

‘I look at Oba Femi, I think Oba Femi in the X Division [would be] absolutely amazing. He would kind of feel like Samoa Joe did, really being the example of the X Division being about no limits.’

It’s clear Speedball would love to test himself against anyone in the world, particularly given his pride in his own ability to gel with any opponent.

Speedball Mike Bailey has some great picks for the crossover with WWE (Picture: TNA Wrestling)

Oba Femi is already making waves as NXT North American Champion (Picture: WWE/Matt Pendleton)

Samoa Joe was a pioneer in the X Division (Picture: AEW/Ricky Havlik)

‘I really don’t believe in styles of professional wrestling. I believe in context being a lot more important,’ he explained. ‘My style is flexible. I can wrestle any kind of wrestling.’

TNA’s crossover with WWE comes at an exciting time for the promotion, with Hard To Kill in January and last month’s Slammiversary bringing in great crowds.

Speedball added: ‘Right now, it feels like unprecedented times, and it feels like everything is is red hot, and it’s time for TNA to strike. And as X Division champion, I feel like it’s the perfect time right now to really make my mark.’

Bailey is proud to be leading the X Division (Picture: TNA Wrestling)

The 34-year-old star has already been building an incredibly reputation over the past decade and a half, and winning the X Division Title for a second time last month was another feather in the cap.

Wrestling Mustafa Ali for the gold was special enough, as he hailed the former WWE superstar as ”one of the best minds for professional wrestling’ Bailey has ever seen.

‘The best thing you can do in professional wrestling is care, right? Take things seriously and understand what you’re doing and why it should work or shouldn’t work,’ he pondered.

The Slammiversary itself was a perfect storm, with the show taking place in Toronto, Canada, with Canadian star Speedball claiming the championship thanks to iconic referee Earl Hebner, who appeared to be finally forgiven by fans for his role in the Montreal Screwjob.

Earl Hebner redeemed himself in Canada (Picture: TNA Wrestling)

There has been a lot of bad blood there after Hebner followed instructions and called for the bell to gift Shawn Michaels a win over Bret Hart, despite the latter – a Canadian hero – being scripted to win at the time.

‘He was nervous,’ Speedball said of talking to Hebner at Slammiversary. ‘It was a big moment for him. There was a lot behind this for him.’

Speedball is still a huge wrestling fan, and he’s delighted to get to tangle with legends of the game – such as a ‘dream match’ with Rob Van Dam in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia over WrestleMania weekend back in April.

Speedball and Rob Van Dam had a ‘dream match’ earlier this year (Picture: Alistair McGeorge/Metro.co.uk)

‘[He] is one of the most iconic innovators of the hybrid style of martial arts and pro wrestling that I love and have worked so hard to make my own,’ he said.

‘There will always be traces of Rob Van Dam in everything I do, just from seeing him when I was much younger, and the way he brought kicks and martial arts and and his high flying to professional wrestling.’

Speedball is forging an impressive legacy, and with his TNA contract running out at the end of the year, he is keeping his options open.

Speedball is excited for the future and keeping his options open (Picture: TNA Wrestling)

‘I’m in a great position right now. I’m open to anything. The landscape of pro wrestling is changing ever so rapidly, but there’s so many fantastic opportunities that are that are going to come up as things develop. It’s only getting better,’ he said.

‘I feel that I’ve worked extremely hard over the last several years to put myself in the position that I am in now, as the X Division champion, as someone that people are looking to as the standard of high quality professional wrestling.

‘There’s still work to be done, but things are looking very good.’

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