New AEW star wants to follow in Kenny Omega's footsteps, says that's his goal

Modified Mar 28, 2025 06:00 GMT

Kenny Omega is a former AEW World Champion [Image Credit: star — Kenny Omega is a former AEW World Champion [Image Credit: Omega's Instagram]

A newly arrived AEW star claimed he idolized Kenny Omega for a long time. The Best Bout Machine has been the standard-bearer for the pro wrestling business for almost a decade. Many stars and fans are inspired by his high-caliber talent. Recently, Mike Bailey revealed that he adored the Cleaner's career.

Speedball debuted in AEW a couple of weeks ago as a wildcard contestant in the International Championship Eliminator tournament. After surviving two rounds, the star will face Omega and Ricochet in a three-way bout at Dynasty.

While speaking with Takedown, Mike Bailey claimed that his goal is to follow in Omega's footsteps. He elaborated that both stars started wrestling for the DDT promotion in Japan.

"I started wrestling for DDT, which is the same promotion in Japan that Kenny Omega came up with. Trying to follow in his footsteps, and I mean that’s been the journey, that’s been the goal for me," he said. [H/T - 411MANIA]

Nic Nemeth wants to see Mike Bailey vs. Kenny Omega

Speedball made a huge impact on his debut against Beast Mortos. Fans were stunned to see the newly signed star perform unique moves.

While speaking on Busted Open Radio, an impressed Nic Nemeth claimed that the star should keep fighting the former AEW World Champion due to his confident attitude.

“[Bailey] rocked and rolled in there … and I go, ‘I want him to win this tournament. I want him to be fighting Kenny Omega.’ I want to see these guys go right at it. Even if he doesn’t beat him, holy s***, this kid just ran through a hard a*s tournament, debuted, people are behind him," he said.

It will be interesting to see if Mike Bailey wins his first AEW title in the first pay-per-view of his career.

About the author

Tejas has been an AEW writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling since 2021. Possessing a degree in Food Processing Technology, it was his brother who introduced him to Sportskeeda, and he has never looked back since.

Tejas’ writing style is analytical and descriptive style, mostly sticking to statistics. He believes in thoroughly checking all statistics and information before using them in his articles to ensure his readers get nothing but the best and most accurate stories. He also does not indulge much in speculation in his content.

His all-time favorite wrestler is Roman Reigns for his journey from being one of the most unlikable babyfaces at the start of his career to one of the greatest modern WWE superstars. If Tejas ever got the chance to go back to the Attitude Era and manage a superstar, it would choose high-flying, risk-taking diminutive entertainer Spike Dudley. Tejas would assure him that he would be involved in long-term storylines, something that he wasn’t part of during his time.

In his free time, Tejas enjoys singing and learning new things.

Know More

Edited by Angana Roy