Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) and Jimmy Korderas (@jimmykorderas) of #Aftermath Radio on thescore.com and iTunes chat with former WWE superstar Zach Gowen. Highlights:
What made him decide to enter Professional Wrestling despite losing his
leg to cancer, and what kind of reaction did he get from his family and friends
when he told them that he wanted to be in the wrestling business:
"I made the decision when I was 16. I knew that wrestling was what I was
going to do because my love and passion for wrestling was unparalleled.
Basically there's nothing in life that grabbed my interest or mesmerized me as
much as Professional Wrestling. I just knew I would somehow be involved in
it."
His debut with the WWE on the May 15/2003 episode of Smackdown
with Mr. America ( Hulk Hogan ), Sean O'Haire, and Rowdy Roddy Piper, where
Piper pulled his prosthetic leg off. Explains how Piper originally tried
pulling the wrong leg by mistake:
"I hit him (Piper) with
Mr.America's flag pole and then Sean O'Haire tackled me. Piper was gonna come
over, rip my prosthetic leg off, cause no one knew at the time I had a missing
limb. When he was pulling my real leg, he was pulling extremely hard too and
yelling at me "why wont this thing come off kid (laughs)"
What lead to his release from his WWE contract, was it his backstage
attitude? What was his circumstance like, and what extent does he remember going
vs the perception he received:
"I didn't know how to conduct
myself as a WWE superstar, I didn't know how to conduct myself as an employee of
that organization, I didn't know how to conduct myself as a man at that point
cause I wasn't a man (Gowen was 18 at time of signing). I guess I acted out a
little bit. Thing is I didn't want to, that's just what was going on in my head
at the time. What was going on inside of me was the complete opposite, I felt
like I didn't belong there, I felt I wasn't as good as these guys, I felt like I
didn't fit in at all."
What are his goals today, doing
motivational speaking, and explaining how he got into drugs and alcohol. when he
was at the lowest point with the drugs and alcohol, what got it to turn it
around for him:
" I would like to say I have a spiritual
intervention basically. I don't know what happened, I was sick and tried of
being sick and tired, and I was living one lie after another. I remember I came
to my mom about everything because I was trying to leave this double life,
everything just came out. Basically I dropped to my knees and asked for help for
the first time in my life. My mom suggested I go into the WWE's rehab program
and thought it was a great idea, so I called the WWE office and told them
I needed help and didnt know how to stop. It was the best thing ive ever done"
To listen to the full podcast, click on this link: http://blogs.thescore.com/wwe/2012/02/07/aftermath-radio-interviews-zach-gowen/
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