22 February 2010 Have you heard the one about the one legged wrestler?!?!?

Some have you have met me in the past however I have a deep dark secret I have a secret love for………Wrestling!!!!. It’s my guilty pleasure  and I guess  everyone has one. It all started in 1990 Wrestlemania VI when Hulk Hogan faced the Ultimate Warrior . After that match I was hooked and have watched it ever since.

Born in 1983 Zach was diagnosed with cancer which cost him his leg; however this had to be done as he would have died without it getting amputated. He got trained up in a wrestling school based in Michigan and first came on to the mainstream wrestling scene in 2003 on Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling. However I first saw him on World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was amazed by his highflying ability and his risk taking.

In an interview Zach says “My biggest fear when entering WWE was not wrestling in front of millions of people but the backstage reaction to his arrival. He says everyone was nice though and not what he expected”.  It  must have been a culture shock to go from nothing into joining the biggest  w restling company in the world.

One question he was asked was if he felt that his disability was exploited and Zach went on to say,  “Of course that's why they signed me, there's no question in my mind. They didn't sign me for my size. Wrestling has been a freak show since the carnival days. But I wasn't worried about being exploited since I was doing the exploiting by taking my leg off and doing moonsaults. I was trying to make money”. 

Many people don’t realise but one of the greatest wrestlers Andre the Giant  was disabled and had a condition called Acromeegaly  which  meant he couldn't stop growing, so in many ways you could say  there is definitely exploitation of disabled people in the wrestling world but when you think about it would they have got the chance to be famous if they  were not disabled...?

Zac was given the opportunity to be part of the sport he loves and he got to work with greats such as Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper but also he worked with Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, Big Show and Brock Lesner to name just a few. However due to injury he was released from his WWE contract in early 2004. This did not stop him however winning some accolades including most inspirational wrestler 2003 (previous winners include legends like Bret “Hitman” Hart, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair) but he also won rookie of the year in 2003 (Previous winners include Stone Cold Steve Austin). All these awards are from Pro Wrestling illustrated which is the main wrestling magazine in America so his achievements were recognised.

He still to this day wrestles on the independent circuit but will always be remembered for his day in the sun in the WWE. You never know  it  gives me hope  that  maybe one day I could be a wrestler.   Dave “The Galeforce” Gale might not be a pipe dream after all!!!

Footage can be found on You tube

1 Comment

• Catherine Gillies replied on 16 Apr 2010 at 18:46
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  I love Wrestling and it isn't a guilty pleasure, i talk about it all the time. My favourite at the moment..in fact forever....is CM PUNK! i remember seeing Zach wrestle and i thought it was pretty cool. What was even cooler is that he didn't use his prosthetic leg, in a way he was quicker without the leg. The more disabled people are visible the quicker people get used to that fact that you can wrestle with a disability...you'll adapt and perhaps not do certain moves. But then a lot of famous wrestlers aren't the best wrestlers but what they do have is charisma and the ability to suck you in.

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