13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Zach Gowen

13. His Childhood Was Rough But Loving

Zach's mother Coleena Graff proved to be a grounded but supportive talking head throughout the entire episode. Whilst her boy was growing up, she constantly tried the best she could to provide for her son. Zach’s dad left when he was 4 years old, and the apartment he and his mother moved into was sandwiched between a drug dealer and a prostitute.

That had to be rather scary, but future WWE man Gowen admits he didn't know any better.

Tragedy struck when Zach broke his leg whilst bowling at summer camp. Doctors couldn’t figure it out at first, but eventually found that his leg broke easily because of a tumour on his femur. In short, he had osteosarcoma, which is a rare form of bone cancer. In a chilling moment on the doc, Gowen says the thought of dying didn’t cross his mind until some of the friends he’d made at the hospital started passing away. That’s brutal.

He had to go through extensive rounds of chemotherapy, and there are several photos of a frankly lost and weary-looking kid who was close to giving up. Coleena always admired how her son kept fighting though, and she did everything she could to make sure he was as comfortable as possible.

It wasn't the best start in life, but it was the hand fate had dealt Gowen. He'd eventually manage to bounce back after having his leg lopped off, but VICE didn't really go into details about what the immediate aftermath of that surgery was like for him.