TNA star reveals incident that earned him a five-year ban in the USA

TNA wrestling star Mike Bailey, also known as “Speedball,” has earned a reputation for his exceptional in-ring skills in recent years, despite being banned from entering the United States from 2016 to 2021 and even being in talks for a WWE contract at one point.

During an appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast Talk Is Jericho, Bailey opened up about his travel ban after border officials discovered he was trying to work at an EVOLVE event without a valid work visa. The officials took his phone and examined it for an hour. They discovered his lie and immediately issued him a travel ban.

“So, as I’ve done many times before, I crossed the line and said … I’m going to do a trial. They took out my phone and took it to the back of the room, spent an hour on it and then came back and said, ‘We know you’re lying. We know you’re getting paid to do this.’ So that was a five-year ban.”

Mike mentioned that he had crossed the border to wrestle before without any problems, but this time the border officials had noticed something. He was told he could make an official statement to avoid jail time, and he complied, not knowing what further consequences an admission of guilt would entail.

“I didn’t even know a five-year ban was being discussed. I had never heard of that happening to a professional wrestler. I had heard of many, many people being turned away because they were suspected and tagged and couldn’t leave. … I just gave in and told them the whole story.”

The TNA star was immediately banned from entering the country and later learned he could face 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 like DDT and RevPro. Since his return, Bailey has become a major player for TNA and GCW and is looking to make a big impression with a time without further restrictions.