Mike Bailey had barely finished celebrating one of the biggest wins of his AEW career before he appeared to take aim at WWE.
Fresh off earning an AEW International Championship match at Grand Slam, Bailey sat down at the AEW Redemption post-show media scrum and reflected on what it was like trying to break into professional wrestling as a French-speaking wrestler from Quebec. While he never mentioned WWE by name, many fans immediately connected the dots.
Bailey said that when he started wrestling in 2005, there was only one major company to chase—and he felt it wasn’t interested in signing wrestlers who looked or sounded like him.
“Basically, it was very difficult to start in Quebec. This is Quebec wrestling in 2005, when I started—before social media—when there was only one major promotion that really didn’t have any wrestlers whose first language wasn’t English and didn’t look around the world for the best wrestlers. They just hired whoever they wanted, whoever fit that very specific mold.”
According to Bailey, that reality made it hard for wrestlers from Quebec to believe they could ever make it onto the biggest stage.
“As someone from Quebec who didn’t fit that mold, the entire province—no one wanted to make it outside of Quebec because it seemed so unlikely, because it just didn’t make sense. No one aspired to be the greatest wrestler in the world. But now here I am in AEW, where the best wrestle.”
Whether Bailey intended it as a direct shot or simply wanted to praise AEW, fans were quick to interpret the comments as a reference to WWE’s hiring philosophy during the era when he was trying to break into the business.
The comments capped an incredible night for Bailey. Earlier in the evening, he survived a chaotic six-man ladder match against Jack Perry, The Beast Mortos, Komander, Nick Wayne and El Clon to secure an AEW International Championship opportunity. Later in the show, Kyle Fletcher retained the title against Bandido, officially setting up Fletcher vs. Bailey for AEW Grand Slam on August 5.
Now Bailey heads into the biggest title match of his AEW career—but it’s his comments after Redemption, not just his victory inside the ring, that have fans talking.
Do you think Mike Bailey was taking a shot at WWE, or was he simply praising AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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