“Speedball” Mike Bailey on His Belief That “Exclusive Contracts Are Bad For Pro Wrestlers”

As noted before, TNA Wrestling recently changed their policy no longer allowing contracted TNA talents to work on the same indies shows as AEW talents, specifically in regards to matches involving TNA talents competing against contracted AEW talents. TNA had released an official statement stating they had pulled their talents due to “partner conflicts.” Several matches were revealed and confirmed to have been recently pulled by TNA President Carlos Silva due to this new policy.

Unlikely’s Adrian Hernandez held a recent interview with “Speedball” Mike Bailey. One of the topics discussed included Bailey’s thought about why he believes exclusive contracts are bad for pro wrestlers but also understands why there is a need for it by wrestling promotions.

“So this is my hot take when it comes to professional wrestling — exclusive contracts are bad. For pro wrestlers, for the development. I understand there is a need for them, the ecosystem and the companies, it doesn’t work without them and that makes sense. But, if everyone in the world could wrestle absolutely anyone else regardless of contracts, just imagine the matchups you would see. Well, we can’t really have that. The closest thing we can have is what AEW is doing, partnering up with CMLL and New Japan Pro Wrestling and working together to showcase the best wrestlers from all over the world. It’s been a problem in professional wrestling for a long time, the lack of diversity in terms of seeing champions from different cultures and races. I think the fact that in order to be considered eligible to become a champion in pro wrestling, you need to speak English, especially as a first language, is completely ridiculous and extremely counterproductive. I’m glad that it’s become less and less of a thing, I think it’s due to partnerships like that opening up the playing fields to literally letting anyone who is the best at pro wrestling wrestle at the very top, as it should be. I think putting any kind of barrier on that is absolutely ridiculous. I think that what AEW is doing right now — you can see it because other companies are following suit — is exactly what needs to happen in professional wrestling.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com