Cody Deaner

Cody Deaner

Deaner posing at a wrestling show in March 2013.
Birth name Chris Gray[1][2]
Born May 16, 1981
Port Bruce, Ontario, Canada[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Cody Steele[1][3]
Cody Deaner[1][4]
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1][4]
Billed weight 229 lb (104 kg)[1]
Billed from "Wherever his trailer takes him"[4]
Muscle Shoals, Alabama[1]
Trained by Derek Wilde[5]
Debut January 24, 2000[3][5]

Chris Gray[1][2] (born May 16, 1981),[6] better known by his ring name Cody Deaner, is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known for having worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2009.

Professional wrestling career

Independent wrestling (2000–present)

Grey 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, Grey 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, Grey began wrestling in the newly founded independent promotion, Great Canadian Wrestling (GCW). He made his GCW debut at a GCW event on June 26 as "Completely" Cody Steele, defeating Derek Wylde.[7] At Rage of the Cage, he began wrestling as Cody Deaner and lost to Shawn Spears in the main event.[8] At Stampede Showdown, Deaner was booked to defeat Hayden "The Destroyer" Avery for his newly won GCW Ontario Independent Championship.[9][10] As a result, Deaner began feuding with Avery for the title. Deaner held the title for three months before losing it back to Avery at Ugandan Invasion.[11] At Veni! Vidi! Vici, Avery defeated Deaner in a Motorcity Street Fight rematch to retain the title.[12]

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.[13][14] 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.[15] 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.[14][16] They lost the titles to The Houses of Virtue (Andrew Davis and Sebastian Suave) at Random Acts of Violence.[17] 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 GCW National Champion Otis Idol over the belt, which culminated in a series of matches but Deaner failed to win it. Their feud ended after Idol lost the title. During this time, Deaner began appearing in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), but he still continues to wrestle for GCW. On July 12, 2009, Deaner defeated "Tenacious" Scotty Turner to win the TWA Heavyweight Championship.[18] After his release from TNA, Deaner dropped his old redneck gimmick and dubbed himself "The Everyman".[19] On April 25, 2010, Deaner lost the TWA Heavyweight Championship to former WWE Superstar Robbie MacAllister at TWA Wrestlelusion II.[18]

After his release from TNA 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.[20]

On November 21, 2013, Deaner defeated Ethan Page to win the Battle Arts Openweight Championship.[21]

Cody Deaner is currently accepting bookings through his website at www.codydeaner.com [20]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004)

His earliest WWE match to record was on November 22, 2004, where he wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Cody Steele in a dark match, where he would lose to Muhammad Hassan.[22] Three days later, on November 25, he made a televised appearance on WWE's program, SmackDown! as a planted hometown hero against Kurt Angle in a match for Angle's Olympic gold medal. Angle defeated Steele to retain his medal.[23]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009)

Deaner was signed to a contract by TNA in 2009. On February 12 edition of Impact!, TNA Knockout ODB cut a promo about letting "one lucky guy spend the night" with her and at Destination X, she chose Deaner as her date.[24] From that time on, Deaner began serving as ODB's manager. On April 16 edition of Impact!, Deaner wrestled his first TNA match, a mixed tag team match with ODB against Abyss and Daffney. Abyss and Daffney won the match.[25] Two weeks later on Impact!, Abyss defeated Deaner in Deaner's first singles match in TNA.[26]

At Hard Justice, ODB and Deaner faced The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) in a tag team match where Love's TNA Women's Knockout Championship was on the line. Deaner pinned Sky to apparently make ODB the new champion, but afterwards began arguing with her over who the champion really was.[27] On August 27 edition of Impact!, it was announced that at No Surrender, he would face ODB to determine the true Knockout Champion. On the September 10 edition of Impact! Deaner defeated Tara in an MMA rules match, after Awesome Kong hit Tara with the Implant Buster while Deaner was inadvertently distracting the referee. At No Surrender, ODB defeated Deaner to win the Knockout Championship.[28] On November 5, he lost to Desmond Wolfe in just seconds.[29] On December 20 at Final Resolution Deaner competed in what would turn out to be his last TNA match, a twelve man "Feast or Fired" match, in which he was unsuccessful in capturing any of the four briefcases.[30] He was released from TNA on December 29, 2009.[31]

Independent circuit (2010–present)

After his release 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.

Personal life

Gray is married and has two children.[2]

In wrestling

Deaner hitting a DDT on a kneeling Shawn Spears.
Deaner executing the Giver Drop on an opponent.
Deaner applying a Crossface on to Shawn Spears.

Championships and accomplishments

Deaner with the Classic Championship Wrestling Heavyweight championship belt

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Cody Deaner at Online World of Wrestling". Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Biggs, Don (2014-09-16). "After 14 years, Cody Deaner gets to wrestle on home turf". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "BSE Profile". BSE Pro. Archived from the original on October 23, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "PWX Profile".
  6. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/codydeaner
  7. ↑ "GCW Results – June 26, 2005". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  8. ↑ "Rage in the Cage Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  9. ↑ "Stampede Showdown Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "GCW Ontario Independent Championship". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  11. ↑ "Ugandan Invasion Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  12. ↑ "Veni! Vidi! Vici! Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  13. ↑ "Beyond the Limit Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "GCW Tag Team Championship". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  15. ↑ "Genesis 11:25:07 Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  16. ↑ "Game Over Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  17. ↑ "Random Acts of Violence Results". Great Canadian Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "TWA Heavyweight Championship Title History". TWA Powerhouse. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Martin, Adam. "Drastic new look for Cody Deaner". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 http://www.codydeaner.com
  21. ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=1&nr=104187
  22. ↑ "RAW – November 22, 2004 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  23. ↑ "SmackDown – November 25, 2004 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  24. ↑ "Destination X 2009 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  25. ↑ "Impact – April 16, 2009 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  26. ↑ "Impact – April 30, 2009 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  27. ↑ "Hard Justice 2009 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  28. ↑ Caldwell, James (2009-09-20). "CALDWELL'S TNA NO SURRENDER PPV REPORT 9/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Matt Morgan vs. A.J. Styles". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  29. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-01-19). "TNA Impact Report 11/5: Complete coverage of Dixie Carter addressing TNA roster, Styles vs. Daniels". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  30. ↑ Caldwell, James (2009-12-20). "CALDWELL'S TNA FINAL RESOLUTION PPV REPORT 12/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Daniels, Angle vs. Wolfe". PWTorch. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  31. ↑ Martin, Adam (2009-12-29). "TNA pulls two wrestler profiles". WrestleView. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  32. ↑ McDonald, Jay (2011-02-08). "Deaner's DDT triumphs at Legion". tillsonburgnews.com. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  33. ↑ Kapur, Bob (2014-07-11). "Magical spontaneous moment makes Jarrett vs Deaner match". slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  34. ↑ "Canadian Results (2008)". Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  35. ↑ Caldwell, James (2010-05-03). "Caldwell's WWE Raw results 5/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Wayne Brady guest-hosting, Cutting Edge with Randy Orton". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  36. ↑ DGUSA
  37. ↑ DBDVN
  38. ↑ Cupach, Michael. "CUPACH'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 6/4: Alt. perspective review of Friday's episode, Reax to Christian heel turn". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  39. ↑ Caldwell, James (2011-02-24). "Caldwell's WWE Superstars report 2/24: Complete coverage of U.S. champ Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase, tag champions in action, 2/21/11 reveal replay". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-07-04. Bryan came back with a signature back flip, clothesline duck, and flying forearm smash to cut off DiBiase.
  40. ↑ "Smackdown Results - 10/12/12". Wrestleview. Retrieved 29 October 2012. Bryan backflips over him, ducks a clothesline, and hits a running elbow to the chest.
  41. ↑ Trionfo, Richard. "WWE RAW REPORT: TOO McMANY McMAHONS?; WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE NO LONG A HEYMAN 'CLIENT'; MARK HENRY GIVES AN EMOTIONAL SPEECH; A SCARE FOR DANIEL BRYAN; IS STEPHANIE MCMAHON THE NEW KAREN JARRETT?; WHAT IF PEOPLE DON'T COME OUT DURING PROMO SEGMENTS, HOW WOULD WE GET MATCHES?; AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  42. ↑ "KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 9/10: Homicide turns heel, Joe & Angle face Daniels & Styles, Morgan-Angle blow-up, two Knockout tag matches, Deaner goes MMA, Quotebook". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  43. ↑ "Thank you...". facebook.com. 2012-01-30. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Cagematch title listings".
  45. ↑ Editors, PWI (August 2009). "PWI 500". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  46. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=1530
  47. ↑ "PWX Pro Division Championship history".
  48. ↑ "PWX X Division Championship history".
  49. ↑ "PWX Xtreme Championship history".
  50. ↑ "PWA Tag Team Championship History".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cody Deaner.