The One-Legged Professional Wrestler

Week of 9/19 – 9/25

For this week’s entry I would like to focus on one of the most successful handicapped professional wrestlers in the United States, Zach Gowen. On Wednesday my friend, who is a huge WWE fan and professional wrestling fan all-around, showed me a clip on Youtube.com about this one-legged wrestler named Zach Gowen. In this video, Zach successfully climbs the ropes of the ring using his upper body strength and powerful leg and does a very difficult move called a moonsault. I was intrigued, so I did some research of my own. I found out his career was a social exchange of sorts, one where the outcome outweighed any costs he had to suffer to get there. Using Resource Theory, it boils down to his optimistic interpretation of his disability. People in the wrestling community show him love and respect, and in turn, he gives them a service coming from his heart. Because of the respect and status they show him, he goes all out. There is rarely anyone in the audience that makes fun of how he only has one-leg; instead, they embrace his willingness to overcome odds that would seem career-threatening to anyone else. Especially since Zach is a professional wrester, the cameras are a tell-tale sign to show his non-verbal communication on the screen. Even though pro-wrestling is sometimes over the top, his emotions and reactions are pretty clear. For example, Zach’s kinesics are major insights on how he regulates a fight between his opponent. His posture is more of a body lean on his shin rather than his foot because of his disability. His gestures illustrate when he is going to execute a move, especially when he waves his arms to maintain a balance on one foot. As for facial expressions, he normally shows an astonished and excited face to the crowd after he executes a move, more to show how amazed he is that he just did it handicapped and to get a roaring crowd anxious for more. As for the opponent Zach wrestles, their haptics are centered on making him get discouraged because of his handicap (though it is a staged performance). His opponent usually goes for his good leg, either by kicking it or grabbing it and tripping him up. Even though this sounds unusual and cruel, it really is just for the crowd. It communicates that even though someone might be disabled, people can actually ignore the common misconceptions associated with the term and treat the person with the same respect as someone labeled as “normal”.