[1] He was a fan of professional wrestling from a young age, and cites Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio as two of his favorite wrestlers.

On the February 12 NWATNA PPV, Tenacious Z, Ron Killings and Jorge Estrada defeated BG James, Glenn Gilbertti and Mike Sanders.

[8] In October 2006, at Bound for Glory, Gowen returned to TNA during the Kevin Nash X-Division Open Battle Royal Gauntlet match as the sixth entrant, but was eliminated by Johnny Devine.

[10] This began a short collaboration of Gowen and Mr. America, and a feud pitting the two against Roddy Piper and Sean O'Haire.

[12][13] On the June 26 episode of SmackDown!, McMahon told Gowen that if he would join his "Kiss My Ass Club", he would be awarded a WWE contract.

[1][4][25] Following his release from WWE, Gowen decided to focus on his education and work limited professional wrestling dates.

On April 14, 2007, Gowen and his mystery partner Krotch defeated "Michigan Invasion" members Truth Martini and "Amazing" N8 Mattson to become new AAW Tag Team Champions.

[26] They then lost the championship to Trik Davis and Conrad Kennedy III in a four-way elimination match on June 16, 2007.

Gowen would later return to ROH on February 22, 2008, in Deer Park, New York, immediately aligning himself with The Age of the Fall.

He teamed with ROH World Champion Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin in a loss to the Briscoe Brothers and Christopher Daniels.

[31] After a tag team loss to Grizzly Redwood and Bobby Dempsey at the following day's event in Toronto, Elgin and Martini turned on Gowen and kicked him out of the House of Truth.

[33] Initially a villain, his hard work ethic and wrestling abilities earned him the respect of the juggalo audience, per storyline.

[33] Following a failed attempt to win the JCW Heavyweight Championship from then-champion Trent Acid, Gowen formed the tag team Pimp & Gimp Connection with Human Tornado.

[35] Tornado, though, saw villainous manager Scott D'Amore leaving Kennedy's dressing room and grew suspicious.

Human Tornado ran into the ring to save Gowen, forcing Kennedy to retreat to the stage, where Scott D'Amore met with him.

[37] The following week, a match was set for Bloodymania II between Pimp & Gimp Connection and Conrad Kennedy with a mystery partner.