411’s Dark Side of The Ring Report: ‘Zach Gowen: Against All Odds’

-Written: 8.25.26
-Source: Vice
-Run Time: 1 Hour (w/ commercials)

-Plugs: Dark Side: Missy Hyatt

-It’s been two years! I love you Jeff!

-Chris Jericho is our narrator.

-Preview shows we have Rhyno/Rhino as a talking head. Gowan notes he was signed site unseen. It seems he also had an awful reputation and he admits to being a complete asshole. He mentions he got free drinks, fast women, and free pills.

-Show opening!

-We start with Zach showing a photo of himself at 17 and two years later he is on a WWE Magazine cover. He talks about his debut and a producer takes him to meet Vince McMahon. Hulk Hogan (Zach’s childhood hero) walks out of the shower as naked as can be and shakes Zach’s hand and thanks him for being here. Zach laughs, “thank you for ruining my childhood.” Zach admits he did look. “Brother is doing alright for himself.”

-He is still amazed the guy who was in the Main Event of WrestleMania III was giving him advice and then offering a beer after the show. Zach’s mom just looks at him and says he wasn’t old enough, but Zach says he wasn’t going to turn Hogan down.

-His earliest memories in live are watching WWF Superstars on Saturday Morning with his dad. His dad left when he was four years old. He and his mom lived in a complex with a drug dealer on one side and a prostitute the other.

-We meet his mother, Colleena Graf, and she notes he loved wrestling from the time he was in preschool. He wanted to watch and do wrestling and even wrestled with his mom.

-Zach went bowling at summer camp and slipped and fell. His leg broke in two places and then the pain kicked in. He was in a cast for six months and it wasn’t getting better. They found he had a tumor and confirmed osteosarcoma. That is why the leg broke so easily and why it would not heal. We get photos of him as a child dealing with chemo. The chemo did not help, but that’s what he had to do first. Zach says the idea of dying never crossed his mind until the friends he made in the hospital started dying. The best chance for him to see nine was amputation.

-We jump to high school where Zach joins the amateur wrestling team so he can become a pro-wrestler. He told everyone he was going to be the first one legged wrestling superstar. He went to a wrestling school and paid him in cash upfront. He assumed when the guy found out he had one leg he wouldn’t kick him out because he wouldn’t want to give the money back. The trainer let him work and he was a natural.

-We see video of his first match against Truth Martini. He was so happy to just be out there. He wanted to wrestle in TNA because they had all his favorite wrestlers. He wanted to be in the X Division. He sent a tape to Bill Berrens, who was a scout for TNA and Bill is here. He was impressed and it was something people had never seen. He calls Zach from Jerry Jarrett’s office and they want to know what they are watching. They tell him to come to Nashville for a Dark Match and bring someone with him. He calls Truth and they go down together.

-TNA: He talks about the match and how when he took off the prosthetic leg, the fans went quiet. They weren’t sure what to do. Once he hit a dropkick the place popped. Jimmy Jacobs is here and he says TNA didn’t know what they had, but to be fair, nobody really did.

-We get the voice of Bruce Prichard because we know nobody associated with WWE will be part of this show. He tells the story of seeing Zach and wanting to bring him in, but Johnny Ace screws up and signs the wrong one legged wrestler. Steve Keirn was training a one legged guy in Florida, and he was nearly signed before they released they had messed up.

-Johnny Ace gets hold of Zach and he is stunned that WWE is calling him. Bill knew they could not match what WWE offered. Zach is told he will debut on SmackDown in an angle with Hulk Hogan. “What?”

-Commercials!

-SmackDown is in Baltimore when Zach makes his debut. The only person he knew was Rhino. He compares Zach to a puppy golden retriever going into a room full of pitbulls. They had a connection because they were from Detroit. Zach debuts as a planted fan in the crowd. He gets called out by Roddy Piper and then jumps into the ring to deck Piper with a flag to save Hogan. He cracks Piper, who told him to make it look good. O’Haire spears him and Piper goes to pull off the leg, but starts pulling the wrong one. Zach yells and Piper ends up pulling off the prosthetic one.

-Chalie Haas is next and introduces himself by saying, “I used to beat the shit out of Zach Gowan.” The story for Zach is him trying to earn a WWE contract. His first official match is teaming with Stephanie against The Big Show. Wild!

-We see the athletic things Zach could do on one leg. Jacobs says what Zach was able to do was magic. The story was changed as Hogan quit after a few weeks and then Piper goes rogue on a TV show talking about all his friends dying early. Vince blows a gasket and fires Piper and yells he never wants to see him again. The match with Vince is pushed up as they no longer have Hogan or Piper.

-Vengeance: Zach vs. Vince and it’s infamous for Vince getting his head split open and bleeding like a stuck pig. It came from a dropkick into a chair into Vince’s head. Blood is squirting out of Vince’s head and Zach is thinking he is going to be fired. He says the match was cut short because Vince was bleeding so much. He takes the loss, but gets a standing ovation from the crowd after the match. He say that meant the world to him.

-He sees Vince backstage and he gives Zach a big hug and tells him it was great. Zach notes his head was spinning after that and says being on TV makes you more attractive to women. He was a kid in a candy store and was not ready for it. Jacobs says Zach grew up in a broken home and now is 19 with money and women.

-Rhino tells the story of them being in Canada and Zach wanted a beer. He wasn’t old enough so the boys just said he didn’t have his idea. Zach told people he was on TV and a WWE Superstar. Rhino: “Man, you just don’t say that.” Zach thought that’s what WWE Superstars did and that they acted like assholes and hung out with women. He admits he was an asshole.

-Commercials!

-Haas says they tried to help Zach put matches together, but he didn’t listen. He goes over how Zach told him, Shelton, Show, Brock, and Angle what he was going to do in a six man. Big Show blew up on him as he wanted to take Show down by himself. He was mad he wasn’t going to look strong. Charlie: “That’s when the beating started.”

-Zach is told he is facing Brock Lesnar and they asked if Zach’s mom can be there. They have her in the front row and Brock heels on her. Arn Anderson was teaching Zach how to blade and Jimmy isn’t sure if he was listening. Zach goes over what Arn told him and nothing happens. He does it again and nothing comes out. He then says screw it and just uses it to rip his head open. Zach is bleeding like crazy and Brock destroys him with F5s into the post. She legit jumps the rail and yells about the blood and he tells her there wasn’t supposed to be that much. Jacobs says it was a home run segment that people still talk about.

-Zach is doing a signing and has a line that takes two hours. His dad, who he had no seen since he was four, showed up and asked if he could sign for him. He then gives him a letter hoping to make reconcile. It pissed Zach off and he talks about being three and seeing his dad beating up his mom. Once they left the home, that is when his dad left the state. That signing was the last time he saw his father. He told himself he would never be like his dad. He was on top of the world for his career, but emotionally was at the bottom of the ocean.

-Commercials!

-Zach has a story line injury in the feud with Brock. They are on the road in Philadelphia and he wants to hang out with his real friends. Zach is out in public taking pictures with fans when he is supposed to be injured and in the hospital. Johnny calls him and Zach tells him “it’s fake.” Not the smartest thing to say! Zach now has heat with the office as well as the boys.

-His last match in the WWE is against Tajiri and he gets legit knocked out by Tajiri’s group with a double team STO. He says it was scary when he woke up in the back and didn’t know much. He told Johnny he had a concussion and needed time off. He called when healthy and Johnny told him he had heat with the boys and office and needed to take time off. Months later he is told to fly to New York and Jim Ross tells him he is talented, but he needs to mature and get more experience. Zach took it to mean he wasn’t good enough and go away forever. He lied to his mom about the reason.

-Jacobs says Zach should have been in the WWE Family forever if he knew how to act. Rhino notes he could have been a GM and worked spot matches. For Zach the money dried up and the girls left, so all he had was the parties and drugs. Zach’s mom figured he needed to go through this and figure it out.

-He heads back to TNA in 2005 and what was supposed to be a one off turns into wanting to use him more. Zach goes to the bar and starts popping somas. He goes up to Jarrett’s suite and asks Jeff where he can get some coke. THAT’S WILD! JJ tells him no and that TNA contract never happens. My man just likes saying the stupidest things at the worst times.

-Commercials!

-Zach was addicted to opiates and alcohol and says the more the merrier. His career is falling, but his drug habit is going up. He and Jacobs live together and become drug buddies. Zach would take two pills today and two tomorrow, but Zach would take all four at once.

-He was 24 and met 18 year old Kelly, who ends up becoming his wife. She says they have been together for 18 years now. She liked to party so thought what Zach was doing fine. She never saw an issue. Zach would spend every couple weeks trying to get sober and the detox would get to him after 2-3 days. She says it was a cycle for the first two years they were together.

-Zach was delivering pizza in a scary neighborhood in Detroit. Nobody answers, so he walks back to his car. A man with a hood approaches with a gun and has Zach empty his pockets. He tells Zach to turn around and run. Zach ran two blocks and pulled out two Oxy from his sock. “I was willing to die for those pills.” It was five years removed from pinning Big Show on SmackDown in front of 13,000 fans. His biggest fear was his mom finding him dead.

-He admits to his mom he has a problem and tells her he can’t stop taking drugs. He says his biggest opponent was the man in the mirror and he could not beat him.

-Commercials! Dark Side of The Cage takes over next Tuesday.

-Zach’s mom gives Zach a letter from the WWE that states they will pay for rehab for any talent that ever worked there. Zach was on a plane to Minnesota as soon as possible and he says that letter saved his life. That policy is still one of the best things WWE has ever done for their talent (past and present).

-He gets sober and isn’t sure if he is ready mentally or physically to get back in the ring. We see him work in ROH and he looks to be healthier. He has beaten cancer and now has beaten drug addiction. He speaks to kids and shares his life story and experiences. Cool! He has worked with over 200,000 parents, teachers and students to him them along their path. He has been doing it for 10 years.

-We see him pop up in AEW in the match against Ricochet. He says it was magical because he was able to take time and enjoy and appreciate it. He never did that in WWE. His mom, wife, and four children were in attendance. Jacobs is glad people got to see what Zach could do because he is so good at what he does.

-Zach talks about being a dad and says it is the greatest thing that has ever happened to him. His kids have never seen him drunk, high, violent, or not there. That’s all he saw. His mom is so proud of him and Jacobs calls Zach a light for the world.

-That puts a wrap on this season. We ended with a happy story which is always a bonus. It is kind of crazy who quickly and how far Zach rose and then just as quickly crashed to Earth. It is kind of similar to Renegade’s story, but Zach was able to get the help he needed. Again, that WWE policy has seemingly helped a lot of people and one thing everyone seems to give them credit for doing. It’s great to see Zach is doing so well.

-Thanks for reading and hopefully we will have a new season sooner than later.