Cody Deaner
Cody Deaner | |
---|---|
Port Bruce, Ontario, Canada[2] | |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Cody Deaner[1][3] Cody Steele[1][4] Deaner[5] |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1][3] |
Billed weight | 212 lb (96 kg)[1] |
Billed from | Muscle Shoals, Alabama[1] |
Trained by | Derek Wilde[6] |
Debut | January 24, 2000[4][6] |
Christopher Gray
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2000–present)
Gray was trained by "Dangerboy" Derek Wylde in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and subsequently made his professional wrestling debut for the now defunct Hardcore Wrestling Federation in 2000 under the ring name Cody Steele. Upon the HWF's closure, he then wrestled for numerous Canadian and American independent wrestling promotions, winning numerous titles across both countries.
He had a number of WWE tryouts under the Cody Steele moniker, including an appearance on SmackDown!.
As Cody Steele, Gray won numerous independent wrestling titles across the US and Canada. He held gold for a number of promotions including: Fighting Spirit Pro Wrestling, Neo Spirit Pro Wrestling, Canadian International Wrestling Alliance, Great Lakes Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Xtreme, Great Canadian Wrestling, and others. Other independent wrestling promotions he has wrestled for include Border City Wrestling, Ballpark Brawl, Pier 6 Wrestling, Empire State Wrestling, International Wrestling Federation, NWA-Empire, NWA-Upstate, AWA-Ontario, Twins Wrestling Entertainment, Classic Championship Wrestling, WAR Wrestling, and Prime Time Wrestling.
In 2005, Gray began wrestling in the newly founded
At Beyond the Limit, Deaner and Avery ended their feud as they teamed up to defeat defending champions Derek Wylde & Andrew Davis and Ash & Otis Idol in a triple threat tag team match for the GCW Tag Team Championship.[14][15] Shortly after the title win, Deaner and Avery began feuding with The Flatliners (Asylum and Matt Burns) for the belts and defeated them in several matches throughout the rest of the year, before losing the tag championships to Flatliners at Genesis 11:25:07.[16] The feud between the teams continued, until Deaner and Avery regained the titles from Flatliners in a steel cage tag team match at Game Over.[15][17] They lost the titles to The Houses of Virtue (Andrew Davis and Sebastian Suave) at Random Acts of Violence.[18] After losing the belts, Deaner and Avery continued to team up and challenged for the titles but failed in winning them, so they broke up their tag team and focused on singles competition.
In the fall of 2008, Deaner was put into a feud with the
After his release from Impact Wrestling in 2009, Cody returned to his roots and began wrestling on the independent wrestling circuit again. He quickly developed a loyal fan following that has come to be known as the Deaner Dynasty.[7]
Deaner returned to the Independent circuit on March 25, 2010, at a Twin Wrestling Entertainment Event, Deaner competed in a 3 Way Dance which was won by Kamala, also on March 25, 2010, Deaner & Crazzy Steve & Kamala defeated Jake O'Reilly & Primo Scordino & Robbie MacAllister in a six-man tag team match, on May 1, 2010, Deaner defeated Cezar in a match for Classic Championship Wrestling.
On November 21, 2013, Deaner defeated Ethan Page to win the Battle Arts Openweight Championship.[21]
In January 2016, Cody Deaner held 4 different heavyweight championships in 4 different Canadian independent wrestling promotions. Cody Deaner is the Border City Wrestling Champion, Rock Solid Wrestling Champion, Crossfire Wrestling Champion, and Magnificent Championship Wrestling Champion.[7]
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004)
His earliest
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009)
Deaner was signed to a contract by TNA in 2009. On February 12 edition of
At
Global Force Wrestling (2016–2017)
Cody Deaner released a self-produced video on his YouTube channel
Return to Impact Wrestling/ TNA
The Deaners (2018–2020)
In 2018, Cody Deaner returned to an
He returned again to an Impact Wrestling ring when he teamed with
In March 2019, Cody Deaner officially re-signed a contract with Impact Wrestling and formed a tag team with his Cousin Jake known as The Deaners.
Violent By Design/The Design (2020–2024)
On December 12, 2020, at
On the June 3, 2021 episode of Impact!, VBD leader Eric Young invoked the
In early 2022, VBD formed an alliance with the Good Brothers, teaming with them at Hard To Kill to take on Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino in a 10-man Hardcore War match in a losing effort.[42][43] On March 5, at Sacrifice, Young and Doering defeated The Good Brothers to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship for the second time, again with Deaner being also recognized as champion under the Freebird Rule.[44]
After losing the tag titles at
Following Kon and Alan Angels being added to VBD,
At
On February 1, 2024, Deaner officially dissolved The Design, stating that it was his attempt to resurrect VBD, but no matter what he did, he couldn't bring it back to life. He lost a match to PCO and was attacked by Kon right after.[48]
Other media
In 2023, Gray started a podcast entitled Wrestling is Life is Wrestling with Cody Deaner where he interviews wrestlers and people involved in the wrestling business to learn various life lessons from their personal life stories and journey. He has interviewed guests such as professional wrestlers Josh Alexander, Crazzy Steve, Shawn Spears, multimedia producer David Sahadi, and more.[49]
Philanthropy
In 2014, Gray started to do some small motivational speaking engagements. Three years later, he began doing motivational speaking engagements to a larger audience and has now spoken in front of thousands of young people for various community organizations, elementary schools, high schools, conferences and charities. He speaks about daring to dream big, overcoming adversity, and the power of positivity and influence.[50][non-primary source needed]
In 2018, Gray started a charity fundraising campaign called "Giv'er for Charity." Every month, he picks a new charity that is connected to his fans and donates 100% of the proceeds from his Giv'er for Charity merchandise to that charity. He has raised money for various charities including: Special Olympics, a wheelchair bicycle fund for a local nursing home, a program for kids with autism, a camp for child burn victims, a community living program for people with special needs, and a summer deaf camp for children.[51][non-primary source needed] The "Giv'er for Charity" campaign has also been endorsed by Mick Foley.[52][non-primary source needed]
Personal life
Gray is married and has four children. His family life and their support throughout his career has been chronicled by the Toronto Star.[53]
Championships and accomplishments
- Battle Arts
- Battle Arts Openweight Championship (1 time)
- Border City Wrestling
- BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[54]
- Interim BCW Heavyweight (1 time)[55]
- Canadian Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2021[56]
- Classic Championship Wrestling
- CCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [57]
- Crossfire Wrestling
- CW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[58]
- CW Tag Team Championships (2 times, current) - with Cousin Jake(1) and Tyler Tirva (1, current)
- Crossbody Pro Wrestling
- CBPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jimbo Jones
- Great Canadian Wrestling
- Impact Wrestling
- (1), Eric Young and Joe Doering (1)
- Magnificent Championship Wrestling
- New Vision Pro Wrestling
- NVP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NVP Heavyweight Championship Tournament (2007)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Pro Wrestling Eclipse
- PWE Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[63]
- Pro Wrestling Xtreme
- Pure Wrestling Association
- PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Quinson Valentino[67]
- Rock Solid Wrestling
- RSW Canadian Championship (1 time)
- TWA Powerhouse
- TWA Championship (1 time)[19]
- TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Derek Wylde
- Pro Wrestling Battle / Eclipse Wrestling
- Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling in Canada
- CVW Championship (1 time)
References
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