WWE News: Zach Gowen reveals the real reason behind his WWE release

Most of the fans would remember Zach Gowen as the guy who received one of the most cringeworthy beatdowns in WWE history at the hands of Brock Lesnar. In case you haven’t seen it yet or may have forgotten how brutal it was, here is the video of the match (that chair shot!)

Zach Gowen – recognized as the first one-legged professional wrestler – faced some of the biggest names in the industry, which included the likes of John Cena, Big Show and Vince McMahon himself. After a short yet relatively memorable run with the company, he was released in February 2004.

The former WWE Superstar recently appeared on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast and revealed the reason behind his WWE's release and the company's novel way of putting across the message to him.

According to Gowen, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was the one who broke the news to him after he was flown to the WWE Headquarters.

So they flew me in, and then I didn’t even see Johnny Ace or Vince, I saw Jim Ross. He sat me down for about thirty-forty five minutes, explained why they were letting me go, gave me some advice on to what to do in the future and said the door’s always open for a return. Then I got back in the town car, they sent me to the air port and I flew home. So essentially they flew me out to the WWE headquarters to fire me, then they flew me home.

He also divulged Jim Ross’s advice to him on his future, and what he should do to become a better pro wrestler. JR advised the Michigan native to develop his body, find out who he really was and eventually put it all together. Gowen was told to go back to the indies to season himself, both as a babyface and a heel.

Another interesting aspect of the interview was when he was questioned about his thoughts on Vince McMahon and the fact that people in pro wrestling circles always coaxed him to talk trash about the WWE boss.

His reply was brimming with gratitude towards WWE and Vince McMahon. Here is what he said:

I will never, ever, ever say anything bad about them, because there’s three different phases of my life that they’ve impacted that impact everything around me. One, when I was a kid and I felt left out and I felt ugly and I felt defective I could escape into WWE and not feel that way. The magic of professional wrestling. Two, when I was eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old they gave me a career that from that I’ve been able to launch off and do amazing things around the world, carry a message to help a lot of people . Number three, they literally saved my life by paying for my treatment when I was at the lowest point in my life.

Gowen also talked about his initial days with the company when Vince McMahon bought him two prosthetic legs that cost thirty thousand dollars. ”One was to keep on the road, in case my leg broke when we were on the road. The other one we were going to have Brock Lesnar break it on live TV or something but it never happened,” Gowen said.

Gowen is currently wrestling on the independent circuit, most notably for the promotion, Juggalo Championship Wrestling.