Gowen was diagnosed with cancer as a child. Because of that, he lost his leg at the age of 8. It was a necessary move: according to his doctors and parents, had the amputation not been done, they were not sure what would have happened to young Zach.

Zach was determined to become a wrestler since he was a young child, and he spent a good portion of his teenage years training towards that goal. On March 16, 2002, he finally achieved his dream, when he debuted in the IWR http://www.pwrhotline.com, losing to Truth Martini. On April 26 of that year, he earned his first win, over Almighty Ray.

On July 31, 2003, Gowen was the object of a feature report on the WWE's television show, Smackdown.