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

After having his leg amputated aged just 8, Gowen threw all of his energy into consuming wrestling as his top hobby. He lived it, breathed it and watched as much as possible. Eventually, when he was in high school, Zach started amateur wrestling because all of his favourite pro wrestling heroes had that background. He wanted to be just like them, and thought learning how to work the mat would stand him in good stead someday.

On the doc, his mother joked: “You think I didn’t know that?”. In other words, she knew that her son was only interested in the amateur game because it might come in handy if he ever laced up and lived out his dream of working in the pros. Even back then, his goal was clear: “To become the world’s first one-legged professional wrestling superstar”.

That singular mindset dominated every aspect of Zach's day.

'Dark Side' didn't bring up the similar-ish tale of one Kerry Von Erich. A motorcycle accident in 1986 forced doctors to amputate Kerry's foot, which is something he worked hard to hide for the rest of his career and life. That's not exactly the same as Gowen's story, but there are some parallels (we'll get to one of those shortly).

It's cool to see pics of Zach looking proud as he posed as an amateur. Coleena told producers several times on this week's episode that Gowen was at his happiest when he was doing something physical, especially if that involved wrestling in any form.