13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Zach Gowen
6. His Estranged Dad Showed Up To A WWE Meet N’ Greet
One day, Zach was signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans for 2 solid hours when he looked up and saw his dad standing there. He didn’t really know what to think at first, but then got angry. Whilst asking for an autograph, his estranged father handed him a letter and left. Gowen barely even remembers the gist of that text now, so it can't have been something he pored over for hours.
However, his mind immediately flashed back to seeing his dad hitting his mother when he was just 3 years old. That, rather unfortunately, is one of the guy's earliest childhood memories. After that incident, Coleena vowed that her son would never be around that sort of violence again. His father skipped to another state the following year, so this autograph session was the first time Zach had seen him since he was a little kid.
Further, that WWE signing event was the last time he saw his father full stop before he passed away. Looking directly down the camera lens, Gowen said this: “No matter what happens, I’ll never ever be like him”. He didn't have a lot to say to his dad, and was so flustered by the whole experience that he asked WWE staff to shut down the signing ASAP.
This was the last thing Zach needed when he was riding high and living his best life. However, there's another side to his WWE experience that became apparent the more Gowen and other talking heads spoke about his time with the promotion...