Alexander, “Speedball” ready for biggest Canadian show of their careers at All Out

By Canadian Press on September 19, 2025.

TORONTO — Josh Alexander and “Speedball” Mike Bailey have been pro wrestlers for almost a combined 40 years but they’re about to reach a new career milestone together.

Alexander and Bailey will face each other in a four-way ladder match for All Elite Wrestling’s World Tag Team Championship on Saturday at All Out, a premium live event held at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

Alexander, who is billed from Toronto but grew up in nearby Bolton, Ont., said that performing at the home of the Maple Leafs and Raptors is a dream come true.

“I was born here, raised here, trained here, started my career here. I’ve been all across Canada, but Ontario, the bulk of my career has taken place here,” said Alexander from his home in a video call. “For me, being a wrestling fan as a kid, when I went to see shows, I was going to that building.

“For me to be able to perform there, you’re talking like the ultimate bucket list thing for me to say ‘I made it, I did this.'”

Alexander and fellow Don Callis Family member Hechicero will face Bailey and partner Kevin Knight (known collectively as JetSpeed), The Young Bucks and defending champions Brody King and Bandido, a.k.a. Brodido, in the chaotic match.

Bailey, who is from Laval, Que., said that All Out will be the largest card he’s ever been on in Canada, despite 20 years of wrestling experience in Canada, the United States, Japan and Mexico. He said it’s different than the smaller independent shows he’s done across Canada because the match at All Out will pay off months of storytelling.

“Which means that people are a lot more invested than they are on your normal, independent show, on a show that’s a smaller scale,” said Bailey. “It is extremely satisfying and rewarding to wrestle and get to listen to such huge audience.

“Sixteen-thousand people is an incredible number, and it’s always great, because that shows you just how hot pro wrestling is right now.”

It was a long journey for both men to reach one of the largest pro wrestling promotions in the world.

Both paid their dues on the indy scene, wrestled in Japan, and then performed in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling before making the jump to AEW. Bailey joined AEW in February and Alexander followed suit in April.

But both of them had their setbacks.

Alexander had neck surgery in 2015, briefly retiring, and in 2016 Bailey was banned from entering the United States for five years after he was stopped at the border without a proper work visa.

Bailey said it shows how determined they both were to reach the heights of their industry.

“His path and mine are very mirrored in that we have both been wrestling for a very, very long time and in both of our careers — when I got banned from the U.S., when he broke his neck, when we both got let go from different promotions — there are many moments where it would have been perfectly justified for he and I to quit wrestling,” said Bailey. “It would have made sense. Any rational person would have, but no, we hung on.”

Although the two Canadians are familiar foes, they’re both looking forward to locking up with new opponents.

“I’m excited to mix it up with all the new talent that I can in AEW,” said Alexander. “I have a list of talent that I am just itching to work with that I haven’t gotten to yet. It’s only been five months, so we’ve got plenty of time.”

One talent that Alexander has gotten to work with is his manager, Don Callis of Winnipeg, the leader of the villainous Don Callis Family.

“Don, man, Don is a heat magnet, which is why he’s one of the best managers going today,” chuckled Alexander. “I think he’s just a genius in the way that he looks at wrestling. I’ve learned a great deal in just five months being side by side with him.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to in the future: just learning even more.”

All Out will begin at 3 p.m. local time, with three matches on the pre-show and 10 on the main card, including Canadian wrestling legends Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, both from Toronto, reuniting as a tag team to face FTR.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press