Zach Gowen

Zachary Mark Gowen (born March 30, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and promoter.

Gowen competed for World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Gowen's left leg was amputated when he was eight years old.

He is the only one-legged competitor ever to compete in WWE.

Gowen was diagnosed with cancer as a child, and lost his left leg due to amputation at the age of eight.

He was a fan of professional wrestling from a young age, and cites Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio as two of his favorite wrestlers.

Gowen is an alumnus at Churchill High School in Livonia, Michigan, Class of 2001.

After being trained by Truth Martini, Gowen made his professional wrestling debut on March 16, 2002, in a loss to Martini.

While training Gowen made the decision to wrestle without his prosthetic leg as he found it difficult to wrestle with the "dead weight".

Gowen first gained national exposure wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during early 2003 under the name Tenacious Z. On the January 29 NWATNA PPV, Tenacious Z defeated Truth Martini in a dark match.

On the February 5 NWATNA PPV, Tenacious Z defeated B.G. James.

On the February 12 NWATNA PPV, Tenacious Z, Ron Killings and Jorge Estrada defeated BG James, Glenn Gilbertti and Mike Sanders.

Afterwards Gowen left TNA, opting not to sign an official contract on the advice of Martini, who advised him WWE were likely to offer him a contract.

In February 2003, Gowan signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

He made his World Wrestling Entertainment debut on the May 15, 2003 episode of SmackDown! as a planted fan in the audience, who attempted to help Mr. America when he was being attacked by Roddy Piper and Sean O'Haire.

During the segment, Piper pulled off Gowen's prosthetic leg.

This began a short collaboration of Gowen and Mr. America, and a feud pitting the two against Roddy Piper and Sean O'Haire.

This storyline culminated at the Judgment Day pay-per-view when Mr. America, accompanied by Gowen, defeated Piper, who was accompanied by O'Haire.

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 the Big Show, 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 the 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 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, which Gowen won.

On the October 23 episode of SmackDown!, Gowen lost to 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.

Following his release from WWE, Gowen decided to focus on his education and work limited professional wrestling dates.

He appeared for several independent promotions, including Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA Mid-South) where he played the character of an egotistical heel (villain).

Gowen was part of the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup in 2004.

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.