13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Zach Gowen
4. The “Dumb Thing To Say” That Cost Him
WWE booked an angle with Brock Lesnar breaking Zach’s leg on TV. Afterwards, he was hanging out with his friends on the town and WWE management caught wind of it. John Laurinaitis called Gowen and asked why he was partying when he’d just been laid out and was supposed to be "in hospital". Ideally, Zach should've just apologised then went about his business, but he...didn't do that.
Gowen's arrogant reply would ultimately cost him WWE stardom: “Johnny, it’s all fake. People know it’s not real”. He says “that was a really dumb thing to say”. It’s true that people know wrestling is predetermined and the angles are soap opera, but still. Maybe firing back with that wasn’t the best career decision when he had beef with the locker room generally due to the way he came in.
Now, on top of all that, he had significant heat with the office too. Ouch! After a few weeks on the bench dealing with a concussion, Zach spoke to Laurinaitis on the phone, and the WWE higher-up said he wasn’t sure about bringing him back to TV. Then, WWE flew Gowen in for a meeting and Jim Ross told him that he ‘needed to mature so they could welcome him back someday'.
This wasn't a literal firing, but Zach took it to mean that and thought WWE management just wanted to say that he sucked and should go home. That wasn't the case, but a series of stupid decisions ultimately cost Gowen his career with the market leader.