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Zachary Mark Gowen (born March 30, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is primarily known for his stint tenure with WWE from 2003 and with other promotions such as Impact Wrestling (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH) and Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling (XICW).
Gowen's left leg was amputation when he was eight years old. He is the first and only one-legged competitor ever to compete in WWE (apart from Kerry Von Erich).
Gowen is an alumnus at Churchill High School in Livonia, Michigan, Class of 2001.
Gowen later returned to TNA on May 15, 2005, at their Hard Justice pay-per-view event, as the second entrant in the 20-Man Gauntlet for the Gold match. He lasted just under five minutes in the ring before being eliminated by Shark Boy. The next month, Gowen wrestled at the Slammiversary pay-per-view, losing in a six-way match. He also appeared on TNA Impact!, wrestling Mikey Batts to a no contest before leaving the promotion once again later that year. In October 2006, at Bound for Glory, Gowen returned to TNA during the Kevin Nash X-Division Open Battle Royal Gauntlet match as the sixth entrant, but was eliminated by Johnny Devine.
Gowen's partnership with Mr. America put him on bad terms with Mr. McMahon, as McMahon was convinced Mr. America was Hulk Hogan in disguise. On the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon told Gowen that if he would join his "Kiss My Ass Club", he would be awarded a WWE contract. Instead Gowen attacked McMahon. As a result, Gowen and Stephanie McMahon were put in a match against Big Show on the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, in what McMahon billed as the first " real" handicap match (referring to Gowen and his amputee status in addition to the two vs. one parameters of the match). With help from both Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, Gowen and Stephanie McMahon defeated Big Show, winning Gowen a contract. Gowen's win further fueled the ill-feelings toward him from Mr. McMahon. This feud culminated in a one-on-one match between the two at Vengeance on July 27 in which McMahon defeated Gowen.
Gowen then lost several singles matches to wrestlers including Shannon Moore, Nunzio, and John Cena, with Gowen being attacked by Matt Hardy, Moore's mentor, following each loss. The storyline was cut short on the August 21 episode of SmackDown!, when Gowen defeated Brock Lesnar by disqualification after Lesnar broke Gowen's leg in storyline.
Gowen was absent from television for nearly a month, returning in an interview on the October 2 episode of SmackDown! promoting his in-ring return for the following week. In his in-ring return, Gowen lost to Moore following interference from Hardy, reigniting their feud. As a result, Gowen and Hardy faced off in a singles match at No Mercy on October 19, which Gowen won. On the October 23 episode of SmackDown!, Gowen lost to Yoshihiro Tajiri in a singles match, and afterward was attacked by two of Tajiri's associates. Gowen did not return to WWE television due to suffering an injury, and was later released from his WWE contract on February 4, 2004.
In All American Wrestling, he is also a part of the "Michigan Invasion" heel stable (along with fellow Michigan wrestlers Truth Martini, "Amazing" N8 Mattson, Eddie Venom and Brian Gorie). On April 14, 2007, Gowen and his mystery partner Krotch defeated " Michigan Invasion" members Truth Martini and "Amazing" N8 Mattson to become new AAW Tag Team Champions. They then lost the championship to Trik Davis and Conrad Kennedy III in a four-way elimination match on June 16, 2007. In a circus-based independent wrestling promotion, Squared Circle Revue, Gowen portrays a one-legged boy, under the ring name, Pogo The 1 Legged Boy.
In Prime Wrestling, Gowen formed a tag team with Gregory Iron known as "The Handicapped Handguns". The duo defeated The Dead Wrestling Society in January 2013 to become the Prime Tag Team Champions. They held the championship for three months, until losing it to Marion Fontaine and Jeremy Madrox on April 19. As the "Handicapped Heroes", Gowen and Iron also won the Clash Tag Team Championship on April 27. On October 20, 2013, The Handicapped Heroes regained the Prime Tag Team Championship.
In the following season, Gowen formed a tag team with Conrad Kennedy to compete in the JCW Tag Team Tournament for the vacant championship. Tornado, though, saw villainous manager Scott D'Amore leaving Kennedy's dressing room and grew suspicious. Two weeks later, Kennedy attacked Gowen after the team lost their match against The Bloody Brothers. Human Tornado ran into the ring to save Gowen, forcing Kennedy to retreat to the stage, where Scott D'Amore met with him. The following week, a match was set for Bloodymania II between Pimp & Gimp Connection and Conrad Kennedy with a mystery partner. The match, however, was scrapped after Gowen legitimately no-showed the event.
Gowen returned to the company on March 23, 2011, where he defeated Jimmy Jacobs. He formed a tag team at Up in Smoke with Nick Dinsmore, who believed that he could be Gowen's second leg. Though U-Gene cost his team the match by distracting the referee, Gowen forgave him and announced that the team would wrestle again at the next event. On July 28, Gowen and U-Gene defeated the Ring Rydas to win the JCW Tag Team Championship. However, Gowen forfeited the championship after realizing that U-Gene cheated to win, causing U-Gene to attack him and disband the team. Both men wrestled each other at Bloodymania 5, with Gowen emerging victorious after U-Gene was caught cheating again.
In 2016, Gowen competed in the Indianapolis qualifying round of the eighth season of American Ninja Warrior. He fell on the third obstacle, the fly wheels, and did not move on to the city finals.
Gowen released a memoir, "High Risk Maneuvers" in 2018 and currently tours as a motivational speaker for kids.
In August 2023, He delivered a presentation titled "Don't Quit Your Daydream" at Western Nevada College. During this event, he recounted overcoming significant life obstacles, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and self-belief.
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