Christopher Gray[1][2] (born March 7, 1982),[7] better known by his ring name Cody Deaner, is a Canadian professional wrestler, and motivational speaker signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

He is a former two-time Impact World Tag Team Champion with Eric Young and Joe Doering (as Violent By Design), holding the titles under the Freebird rule.

[8] At Rage of the Cage, he began wrestling as Cody Deaner and lost to Shawn Spears in the main event.

[9] At Stampede Showdown, Deaner was booked to defeat Hayden "The Destroyer" Avery for his newly won GCW Ontario Independent Championship.

[15][17] They lost the titles to The Houses of Virtue (Andrew Davis and Sebastian Suave) at Random Acts of Violence.

[31] Cody Deaner released a self-produced video on his YouTube channel[32] and CodyDeaner.com website[7] looking to get a shot with Global Force Wrestling.

Within six days of a campaign widely supported by his fans, Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Wrestling responded by booking him for their first show in 2016 in Poughkeepsie, New York on January 22.

[39] After numerous video packages hinting at a character change, Deaner debuted a newly shaved head, trimmed beard and all black attire on the January 5, 2021, edition of Impact!.

At Hard to Kill, Deaner, Doering, and Young began going under the name Violent By Design (VBD), as they defeated Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, and Cousin Jake.

[40] VBD would lose the titles to The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) in a four-way tag team match at Slammiversary, that also involved Rich Swann and Willie Mack, and Fallah Bahh and No Way.

[41] 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 Under Siege, Deaner and Doering focused more on helping Young try to win the Impact World Championship during the summer of 2022, but were unsuccessful.

[46][47] At Final Resolution on December 9, 2023, Deaner unsuccessfully challenged Tommy Dreamer for the Impact Digital Media Championship.

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.

[48] Following the dissolution of The Design, Deaner reverted to his previous ring name, Cody Deaner, and turned face for the first time since 2020 when he debuted a gimmick where he interacted with the audience on what match should take place after every promo segment, with said match taking place based on the crowd reaction.

He has interviewed guests such as professional wrestlers Josh Alexander, Crazzy Steve, Shawn Spears, multimedia producer David Sahadi, and more.

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.