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

Zach Gowen's story is both an inspiring 'anyone can make it' dream-turned-reality and a cautionary tale on the dangers of ego, excess and 'too much too soon'. WWE hired Gowen because he was unique. He'd be the only one-legged wrestler on the roster, but it didn't take long for things to turn sour. To his credit, Zach is willing to take the blame for that.

Some of the talking heads on VICE's latest 'Dark Side Of The Ring' episode moved to defend Gowen for effectively taking out a blowtorch and burning his own childhood dreams to dust. After all, they pointed out, he'd come through some seriously harrowing health concerns as a kid (Zach almost died and had his leg amputated aged 8), but he'd fought back against that cruel fate to score a WWE contract.

Those same friends, peers and critics refused to shield Gowen from his own responsibilities, but the final 'Dark Side' of the season had a happy ending. Perhaps that's why VICE chose it for the finale. Maybe they wanted to present redemption rather than outright bleakness. It worked, and it's difficult not to get charmed by how chipper Zach is about being a father or where his life is at right now.

WWE, TNA and AEW - Gowen worked for all of them, but he has some outrageous stories to tell. The best of them are packaged here. So, from meeting naked Hulk Hogan (like 'Naked Mideon' but not) to almost being shot whilst delivering pizzas, there's a lot to dig into.

Enjoy.

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.