My first interaction with Zach Gowen left me with a thought that I tried to supress. I couldn’t help it, though. The old saying rang true: You never want to meet your heroes, because there’s a good chance they’ll end up disappointing you. When I chatted with Zach, he just didn’t seem to care. I had no idea that Zach was battling a substance abuse problem.
When Zach was fired from the WWE in 2003, his life seemingly spiraled downhill. Being only twenty years old, Gowen believed that after sitting on top of the professional wrestling mountain, there was nowhere to go but down. To numb himself, Zach masked the pain of reality with large consumptions of drugs and alcohol. By 2006, the worries and questions from a novice 19 year old handicapped wrestler were the least of his concerns. His main objective was to obtain his next fix.
After my discussion with Zach, I walked up the stairs of Turner’s Hall, not knowing when or if I’d ever see him again.
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As years past, I’d often come across promoters who’d ask if I’d ever teamed with Zach Gowen. I’d tell them no, and they’d start making promises to put us together as a team. After awhile, that pitch simply went in one ear and out the other. Yea, I never forgot the day that I met Zach. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just– disappointing. The teenager in me still wanted to team with Zach. Afterall, even though he didn’t realize it, Zach Gowen was the reason Gregory Iron existed.
After years of broken promises, a promoter in West Virginia contacted me in 2010, informing me that he was teaming me with Zach Gowen. I wasn’t surprised in the irony of us being put in a Handicap Match, with the two of us versus one big fat guy. Frankly, I didn’t care who was in the match, or how many opponents we were facing. I was pretty hyped that I’d get to team with Zach. As I drove from Cleveland to Huntington, I pondered if Zach remembered me.
I arrived to the show, and introduced myself to Zach. To my surprise, he remembered me! Right off the bat, he seemed like a different person. He was glowing. He was wide eyed, polite, and upbeat. As we conversed, he explained to me that this was his first match since returning from rehab, payed for by his ex-employer, World Wrestling Entertainment. I thought back to 2006 and it all made sense now. It was if we were meeting for the first time– again.
We went to the ring that night, and things just clicked. Afterwards, Zach complimented me on how good I was, and the great physical condition I was in. I accepted his compliments with a poker face, not wanting to let on that I wanted to jump up and down screaming like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert. At one point, he told me that he thought we’d make a great tag team. I appreciated that, but I just assumed he was saying that to be polite. He told me to think of a cool name, like “The Motor City Machine Guns.”
That night, driving home, I told Ring of Honor commentator Joe Dombrowski that I had the perfect name: “The Handicapped Handguns.” Joe texted the name to Zach, and he loved it! Unfortunately, 2010 turned to 2011, and “The Handicapped Handguns” never came to form. I was starting to think they never would.
In July of 2011, I was publicly endorsed by Colt Cabana and CM Punk on an All American Wrestling show in Chicago. The video went viral, and my career began to change drastically because of it. I had no idea that this one moment in time would lead to the one moment that would bring upon the birth of “The Handicapped Handguns.”
Later this week… the fourth and final part of this four part series! Until then, go back and read parts one and two!
-Greg
