Cody Smith sits behind the front desk at Club Flex Athletics, greeting patrons with a smile.
To the people that come to the gym, he's little more than a friendly someone with fitness advice, but this version of Smith is in stark contrast to who he was years ago.
A handheld video of a professional wrestling match sheds some light on his past.
The setting is 2006, a wrestling ring in Japan. Dressed in a white and black singlet, a young wrestler named TKO appears on the screen. He grapples with a Japanese wrestler, flipping and diving off the ropes. He talks trash to fans at ringside, establishing himself as a heel or bad guy.
Ultimately, TKO succumbs, falling victim to a flip off the top rope. The fans jeer as he exits the ring, but a close look reveals a grin on his face.
For many wrestlers, the thrill of performing comes from fan reaction and TKO, aka: Cody Smith, is no different.
From a young age, Smith was a huge fan of professional wrestling.
"I took it as an art form," he explains. "It's a beautiful dance between two guys who can make a crowd believe that what they're seeing is real."
His interest in pro wrestling began crossing over into other aspects of his life in his teens.
"Me and my friends would go to parties and put on matches," he says. "We'd be jumping off bookshelves, whatever it took to get a reaction."
Finally in 2002, at the age of 16, Smith decided to go pro, so he joined a wrestling school. He said he'll always remember the first time he approached the real deal,nerves jangling.
"I crawled up into the ring and it was an incredible feeling the moment I entered the ring and touched the canvas."
The first training session saw Smith learn how to take bumps or fall.
"I went through the most gruelling training imaginable," he said. "I was literally black and blue and my chest was red from all the popped blood vessels."
But he earned the other wrestlers' respect.
"At the end of that first session, I had all the guys lining up to shake my hand," he says.
Smith took their invitation to return two days later, and from then on, began training three times a week. His body adjusted to the punishment and he fell in love with performing.
"I remember coming home and my parents just asked me what am I doing to myself," he said. "But I loved it. It put a big smile on my face and I even earned the respect of my older brother."
Within six months, Smith got his first match.
"I was nervous as hell before the match in front of 200 people in Cloverdale," he said. "As soon as I went through the curtain while my theme music was playing, I thought 'All eyes are on me. This is fantastic, this is what I came here for.'"
The choreography was not quite as perfectly executed as hoped for when nervousness took over.
"You think you have a plan until you get hit. Me and my opponent planned to have an epic match and had it all planned out until that first hit came, and I went blank and didn't remember anything."
Nonetheless, with his father recording the match in the stands, Smith wowed the crowd.
For the next four years, Smith performed all over British Columbia for All-Star Professional Wrestling. Then, while travelling, he decided to check out another wrestling hotbed: Japan.
Japan is well known in wrestling circles as home to some of the stiffest and most realistic action in the industry, which means a lot of pain for the athletes. Smith wanted a piece of that action.
"I went to the back and told them that I was a wrestler and immediately got their respect," he says. "In fact, they got me to wrestle for them later that same night."
What resulted was what Smith describes as an "ass-kicking."
"I remember my back and neck being so stiff but having to bow for everyone I met, it wasn't fun."
Smith also travelled to Australia to join Independent Championship Wrestling (ICW) based in Sydney.
"I travelled down to Sydney to their school in the back of a church, but I knew so much more than these guys and became almost a teacher as soon as I got there."
He joined ICW and adopted the character of famous Canadian wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart's long-lost cousin.
The Australian fans were supposed to boo for Smith, but he won them over and by the end of his first match, they were chanting his name.
For the next three months, Smith travelled throughout the continent making a living as a wrestler. He then returned home, planning to make a comeback to the local scene when disaster struck in 2006.
A night of drinking with his brother changed Smith's life for good.
"My brother decided to pick a fight with the biggest guy at the bar," he said.
"It didn't go the way my brother planned it and this guy was going to destroy him so I tried to break it up. I grabbed the big guy and it was this guy's weight, my weight and my brother's weight all on my right ankle and it collapsed."
Smith fractured three bones in four different places in his ankle. Two surgeries, pins, plates and screws put his ankle back together but it was clear that his wrestling career was over.
"I had to give up what I truly would do for free," he said. "The roar of the crowd is something that I still miss to this day."
Thankfully for Smith, another opportunity came to him at Club Flex. Long-time owner Don Smith (no relation) has been looking for someone to pass over the gym's reins to, and he said he believes the younger Smith can keep his motto going.
"The best way to change yourself mentally and physically for the better is by coming to the gym," said Don.
Cody, who is now a certified personal trainer, has big plans for the gym. He said he wants to start a mixed martial arts style class and has other ideas to help modernize Club Flex.
He also said he wants to share the fitness knowledge he's gained to any patron who's interested. So next time you enter Club Flex, return Cody's smile and know that you are in good hands.
