Karl Gotch

Charles "Karl" Istaz[1] (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007) was a Belgian[7][8][9] catch wrestler, professional wrestler, and trainer, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch. In Japan, Gotch was known as the "God of Wrestling" due to his influence in shaping the Japanese professional wrestling style.

Karl Gotch
Birth nameCharles Istaz[1]
Born(1924-08-03)August 3, 1924[2]
Antwerp, Belgium[3]
DiedJuly 28, 2007(2007-07-28) (aged 82)[1]
Tampa, Florida, U.S.[4]
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Karl Gotch[3]
Karl Krauser[3]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[5]
Billed weight245 lb (111 kg)[5]
Billed fromHamburg, Germany
Trained byBilly Riley[3]
Debut1950
RetiredJanuary 1, 1982[6]

He has no relation to the earlier wrestler Frank Gotch, from whom he derived his ring name.

Early life

Istaz was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a Hungarian father and German mother. He grew up in Antwerp, on the waterfront.[10] He learned Greco-Roman wrestling in his early years and from the beginning he was a very well known sportsman. He wrestled in "The Hippodroom", a notable sports center in Antwerp, where amateur fights like boxing matches, savate matches and wrestling matches were fought.

A survivor of the Holocaust, during World War II, Istaz and his father were forced laborers in the REIMAHG (Lager E camp) at Kahla.[11]

Amateur wrestling career

Istaz excelled in amateur wrestling and experienced a major breakthrough in his career by competing as Charles Istaz for Belgium in the 1948 Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.[12] Gotch also trained in the Indian martial art of Pehlwani. This training led to Istaz's regime of calisthenic bodyweight exercise, which were used by Indian wrestlers and other athletes to build leg endurance and strength. He also adopted other Indian exercises, such as the bridge, Hindu squats, and Hindu press ups in his wrestling.[13] Gotch's philosophy was later passed on to several of his students.

Professional wrestling career

Europe and the United States

Istaz's professional wrestling career began after training in the "Snake Pit", run by the renowned catch wrestler Billy Riley.[3] He debuted in the 1950, wrestling throughout Europe under the ring name Karl Krauser, and winning various titles including the German Heavyweight Championship and the European Championship.[3]

In the late 1950s, Istaz moved to the United States, and began wrestling as Karl Gotch.[3] In the United States, Gotch's wrestling style and lack of showmanship held him back, and he did not experience any great popularity at the time.[6] In 1961, he won the American Wrestling Alliance (Ohio) World Heavyweight Championship.[3] Gotch held the belt for two years before dropping the title to Lou Thesz, one of the few American wrestlers he respected because of the similarities of their styles (the two also share a common German/Hungarian heritage). In 1962, Gotch was involved in a backstage altercation with the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, in which Rogers was injured.[6] The incident alienated Gotch from American promoters, and he began looking for work in Japan.[6]

He returned to the United States for a stint in the 1970s, with a brief run in the World Wide Wrestling Federation from August 1971 to February 1972. On December 6, 1971, he teamed with Rene Goulet to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship from the inaugural champions, Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler, in two straight falls of a best-two-out-of-three-falls match in Madison Square Garden.[6][14] They lost the championship on February 1, 1972, to Baron Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis.[6]

Japan

During the 1960s, Gotch began wrestling in other countries. He wrestled in Australia as Karl Krauser, and in 1965 he defeated Spiros Arion to win the International Wrestling Alliance's Heavyweight Championship.[3] He had also begun working in Japan, where he became very popular due to his amateur wrestling style.[3] He wrestled in the main event of the very first show held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on March 6, 1972, defeating Antonio Inoki.[15] His final match occurred on January 1, 1982, when he pinned Yoshiaki Fujiwara with the German Suplex.[16] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gotch worked as both the booker and trainer for NJPW.[6] He trained several wrestlers in Japan, including Hideki Suzuki, Hiro Matsuda, Satoru Sayama, Osamu Kido, Barry Darsow, Minoru Suzuki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Akira Maeda and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.[3][6]

Personal life

Istaz was married to Ella, and had a daughter, Janine.[6] They resided in Florida until his death.[6]

Legacy and death

Gotch became known as a "God" (神様 Kami-sama) in Japan.[6] Gotch's wrestling style, alongside fellow hooker Lou Thesz, had a big impact on Inoki, who adopted and popularized his submission-based style. Some of Istaz's trainees founded the Universal Wrestling Federation in Japan in 1984, which showcased the shoot-style of professional wrestling. The success of UWF and similar promotions influenced Japanese wrestling in subsequent decades, and changed the style of matches in NJPW and All Japan Pro Wrestling.[6]

Gotch was friends and training partners with judo exponents Masahiko Kimura and Kiyotaka Otsubo, who also had tenures as professional wrestlers.[17] Gotch was vocal in his opposition to the growing sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, decrying its practitioners as "old whores waiting for a consumer" due to their defensive usage of the guard position.[17]

The German suplex is named after Gotch.[18] Gotch was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1996.[6] In 2007, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.[3] He innovated the cradle piledriver and the kneeling belly-to-belly piledriver.

Istaz died on July 28, 2007, in Tampa, Florida, at the age of 82.[1][4]

His ashes were mostly spread in Lake Keystone, Florida. However, in 2017, ten years after his death, some of his ashes were interred at a grave in Ekoin Temple in Arakawa, Tokyo.

Championships and accomplishments

Footnotes
  1. Gallipoli, Thomas M. (August 22, 2007). "SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2007 with Details (Updated as needed)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  2. "Karl Gotch". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  3. Oates, Robert K. "Karl Gotch". Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 29, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  4. Caldwell, James (July 29, 2007). "Etc. News: Wrestling legend Karl Gotch dies at age 82 in Florida". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  5. Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  6. Schramm, Chris; Oliver, Greg (July 29, 2007). ""God of Wrestling" legacy on wrestling may be forever Karl Gotch dead at age 82". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  7. "Karl Gotch – World Submission Wrestling Federation".
  8. "Karl Gotch".
  9. Leonard, Bob (December 1968). "Karl Gotch, The Quiet Man, Speaks His Piece". The Ring Wrestling. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  10. Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  11. "Gedenkstätte Memorial Walpersberg". Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Karl Gotch Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  13. "Karl Gotch, The Quiet Man, Speaks His Piece" – December, 1968
  14. Graham Cawthon. "WWF Show Results 1971". Retrieved September 8, 2009. (December 6, 1971) Karl Gotch & Rene Goulet defeated WWWF Tag Team Champions Luke Graham & Tarzan Tyler to win the titles in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2–0, at 17:20
  15. Zavisa, Chris (September 15, 2002). "5 Yrs Ago: Zavisa on the 25th Anniversary of New Japan Pro Wrestling". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  16. "1982". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2022-03-21.
  17. Yamaguchi, Noboru (1997). 紙のプロレス・ラジカル3号 カール・ゴッチ神様降臨!!. Kamipro.
  18. "Five very European maneuvers for Antonio Cesaro". WWE. p. 3. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  19. Johnson, Mike (June 30, 2009). "Ricky Steamboat, Nick Bockinkel Among 2009 Class Honored By Wrestling Museum & Institute". PWInsider. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  20. "STEVE AUSTIN & MORE: INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2022 ANNOUNCED".
  21. "NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  22. 東京スポーツ プロレス大賞. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  23. "German Heavyweight Championship Title History". Wrestling-titles. Retrieved 2018-01-06.

References
  • Catch: The Hold Not Taken (DVD). 2005.
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