Why Zach Gowen Counts Match With Brock Lesnar Among The Most Violent In WWE History
While his tenure in WWE may not have been the longest, Zach Gowen believes a match of his may be one of the most violent affairs in the company's history. During a recent episode of "The False Finish," Gowen reflected on his singles match against Brock Lesnar, which occurred on an August 2003 episode of "WWE SmackDown."
The contest took place in his home state of Michigan, and Gowen's mother made a special appearance at ringside. Unfortunately, though, her son — who is an amputee — was subjected to a brutal beating at the hands of Lesnar.
"As I get there [to 'SmackDown'], they tell me the idea of me and Brock, which I'm really ecstatic about because I'm like, 'I know we can do something really, really special here, I know it.' All the pieces are there, and we put the match together and it's one of the most violent matches in WWE history," Gowen said. "It was only five, six minutes long. They needed Brock to be hated, and creative thought to themselves, 'How can we get Brock [hated]?' Like you said, beat up the local kid with one leg in front of his mom, bloody mess.
"That was the first time I ever [bladed] in my life was on 'SmackDown,' which is why it's a lot. It wasn't supposed to be that much, but I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Again, not something you'll ever see WWE do again."
Brutal Beatdown
In the match, Brock Lesnar unleashed a vicious assault on Zach Gowen, eventually introducing a steel chair into the equation and proceeding to strike Gowen in the head with it, forcing the referee to disqualify Lesnar. This action, along with the aforementioned blading, caused Gowen to then bleed profusely from his forehead.
Despite desperate pleas from Gowen's mother urging Lesnar to stop, "The Beast Incarnate" wasn't quite finished yet. After nailing Gowen with a chair, he positioned him on his shoulders and rammed his leg into the steel ring post, twice. Gowen was later moved onto a stretcher.
While the visuals looked absolutely vile, Gowen reassures fans that Lesnar took extra precautions in handling him during their match. For that, he is forever grateful.
"When are we going to start talking about Brock Lesnar as one of the top five WWE superstars of all time?" Gowen asked. "He doesn't ever get brought up in the discussion. I love Brock Lesnar. He took care of me that night when he didn't have to. Everything he did looked absolutely, insanely brutal, but it was safe. I was out partying the rest of that night after I showered and got my head stitched up, so, thank you, Brock."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The False Finish" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.