- From Arda Ocal:
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.”
Signing with the WWE for the first time. There was originally a mix up with the signing because there was another one legged wrestler that was mistakenly brought in to sign with WWE. How did the mix up on that come about.
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)”
Facing Vince McMahon at WWE Vengeance 2003. Speaks about how he accidentally busted Vince McMahon open in the match, and his thoughts on facing Brock Lesnar on a episode of Smackdown in his hometown of Detroit:
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/
- The Miz recently sat down with the UK Sky Sports website. Here are some highlights:
On Main Eventing Wrestelmania: Being involved in the biggest match of 2011 was pretty incredible. To main event WrestleMania was a dream come true and something every kid who is a WWE fan has thought about growing up. Not only did I do that but I retained my WWE Championship, not once but twice. I always set out to be the first person to do something and that’s what I did at WrestleMania. I beat John Cena by pinning him, making me the first person to do that in WrestleMania history. That was another incredible feat.
On The Rock’s Return: I was almost feeling like I was lost in the battle of The Rock and John Cena, but towards the end I really started picking up my pace. By the end of it, I truly believed that people weren’t just talking about The Rock and John Cena, they were talking about The Miz. And now people are talking about The Miz more and more as a top-tier talent rather than a person who’s trying to get to that level.
On His Childhood Idols: When I was a kid growing up in the ’80s, I wanted to be the Ultimate Warrior. I would put the streamers on my arms, paint my face and cut promos like him. I also loved the Rockers tag team of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. When I teamed with John Morrison we always said we were like a new-age Rockers because we were fast and exciting. Unfortunately for Morrison, he became the Jannetty and I became the Michaels! Going into the Attitude Era, I liked D-Generation X because they were doing stuff that had never been done, while The Rock and Stone Cold were also exciting.
On Daniel Bryan: I take full credit for Daniel Bryan being World Heavyweight Champion having mentored him on NXT and Monday Night Raw. When he won the Money in the Bank briefcase he promised that he would do something that no-one else had done before and cash it in at WrestleMania. But then he did what everyone else did – what he watched me do the year before – and cashed it in at the end of another match. He followed directly in my footsteps.
On The Younger Talent: I thought Alex Riley would be very impressive but then he left my side and all my coaching went out the window. He’s gone his own way now and where has that got him? On Superstars every week! I think Brodus Clay could be very good. He is entertaining and he is a huge guy but he has a long way to go to be taken seriously. And while I don’t consider Dolph Ziggler new, he is fresh to the main-event scene and I think he is doing an incredible job.
- Sean Waltman Tweeted the following on word that his friend Ron Simmons will be inducted in to this year’s WWE Hall of Fame:
“I want to congratulate my friend Ron Simmons on his induction into WWE HOF! Highly respected. Incredibly explosive power. Very believable.”
- Here is the trailer to Fancypants starring Roddy Piper.
“The story of a professional wrestler, ‘Leo the Blue Lion,’ who is nearing the end of his career and finds out he has one fan left in an 8-year old boy, who hides a secret that will change Leo’s life forever.”
The movie will be screened Thursday night at the AMC Westshore 14 Theater in Tampa, Florida. It is currently scheduled to be released on DVD and though Video-on-Demand some time this year.
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