‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey wins X-Division title at TNA Slammiversary, Earl Hebner makes cameo
Aided by Earl Hebner of all people, “Speedball” Mike Bailey is once again TNA X-Division Champion after regaining the title at Slammiversary in Montreal, Canada — Bailey’s hometown.
With the referee knocked out of the match late, champion Mustafa Ali called for Hebner to come out from the back and then applied a sharpshooter to Bailey, looking for Hebner to call the match as he did in the infamous 1997 WWE “Montreal Screwjob” with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Hebner, however, hesitated and refused to do so which enraged Ali.
Bailey rallied and eventually locked on his own sharpshooter that won him the match and the title.
It’s Bailey’s second run with the title and the first since October 2022 when he held the title for 110 days.
The defeat ends the 149-day reign for Ali who first won the gold from Chris Sabin at February’s No Surrender. He successfully defended the title seven times.
To this point, it’s the third title change on the pay-per-view as there are new Tag Team Champions and a new Digital Media/International Heavyweight Champion.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.