Belgian professional wrestler (1924?2007)
Karel Istaz
[1]
[2]
(August 3, 1924 ? July 28, 2007), best known by his
ring name
Karl Gotch
, was a Belgian-American
professional wrestler
,
amateur wrestler
,
catch wrestler
, and trainer.
He represented Belgium at the
1948 Summer Olympics
in both
freestyle
and
Greco-Roman
wrestling.
[1]
[2]
In Japan, Gotch is known as the "God of Wrestling" due to his influence on
Japanese professional wrestling
.
[9]
[8]
He significantly influenced the development of modern
mixed martial arts
(MMA). His students established pioneering MMA promotions and training schools to transmit Gotch's training. These include
Shooto
and
Pancrase
(both of which predate the
UFC
),
RINGS
, and
PRIDE
, one of the most popular MMA promotions in history.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
He was given the ringname "Gotch" by Ohio promoter Al Haft in honor of American wrestler
Frank Gotch
.
[15]
Early life and amateur wrestling career
[
edit
]
Istaz was born in
Antwerp
, Belgium, where he excelled in
amateur wrestling
and represented Belgium at the
1948 Summer Olympics
in both
freestyle
and
Greco-Roman wrestling
.
[1]
[2]
[16]
Gotch's life prior to the Olympics is unclear and has been subject to
embellishment
by
pro wrestling magazines
.
[17]
Gotch also trained in
pehlwani
, an Indian style of wrestling. This training led to Istaz's regime of
calisthenic
bodyweight exercise, which were used by wrestlers to build leg endurance and strength, such as the
bridge
,
Hindu squats
, and
Hindu press ups
.
[18]
Gotch's philosophy was later passed on to several of his students.
Professional wrestling career
[
edit
]
Europe and the United States
[
edit
]
Istaz's professional wrestling career began after training at
Riley's Gym
(later dubbed "The Snake Pit"), run by the renowned
catch wrestler
Billy Riley
.
[4]
He debuted in 1950, wrestling throughout Europe under the
ring name
Karl Krauser, and winning titles including the
German Heavyweight Championship
and the European Championship.
[4]
In the late 1950s, Istaz moved to the
United States
, and began wrestling as Karl Gotch.
[4]
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.
[8]
In 1961, he won the American Wrestling Alliance (Ohio) World Heavyweight Championship.
[4]
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 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.
[8]
The incident alienated Gotch from American promoters, and he began looking for work in Japan.
[8]
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
.
[8]
[19]
They lost the championship on February 1, 1972, to
Baron Mikel Scicluna
and
King Curtis
.
[8]
Japan
[
edit
]
During the 1960s, Gotch continued to travel. He wrestled in
Australia
as Karl Krauser, and in 1965 he defeated
Spiros Arion
to win the
International Wrestling Alliance
's
Heavyweight Championship
.
[4]
He had also begun working in
Japan
, where he became very popular due to his amateur wrestling style.
[4]
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
.
[20]
His final match occurred on January 1, 1982, when he pinned
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
with the German suplex.
[21]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gotch worked as both the
booker
and trainer for NJPW.
[8]
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
.
[4]
[8]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Istaz was married to Ella, and had a daughter, Janine.
[8]
They resided in
Florida
until his death.
[8]
Janine married Masami "Sammy" Soranaka, a protege of her father's, pro wrestler and referee.
[22]
[23]
Legacy and death
[
edit
]
Karl Gotch became known as a "God" (神?,
Kami-sama
) in Japan.
[8]
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
.
[8]
Gotch also influenced the development of
mixed martial arts
(MMA) through his students including Antonio Inoki,
Satoru Sayama
,
Minoru Suzuki
,
Masakatsu Funaki
,
Akira Maeda
, and
Nobuhiko Takada
. Inoki wrestled in a series of matches called
ishu kakut?gi sen
, where he faced martial artists representing different styles and a
legitimate fight against Muhammad Ali
in 1976. Inoki hired legitimate martial artists such as Gotch to train his roster and later promoted MMA. Sayama founded
Shooto
, a hybrid martial art system and promotion. Shooto held its first amateur events in 1985 and its first professional event in 1989, several years prior to the
UFC
in 1993. Suzuki and Funaki founded
Pancrase
, which held
its first event
a month before
UFC 1
. Maeda founded
RINGS
, a shoot-style wrestling promotion that became an MMA promotion. And Takada co-founded
PRIDE
, one of the most popular MMA promotions in history. These students and promotions shaped MMA by producing and featuring many of the top fighters of their time.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
Gotch was friends and training partners with
judo
exponents
Masahiko Kimura
and Kiyotaka Otsubo, who also had tenures as professional wrestlers.
[24]
Gotch was vocal in his opposition to the growing
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
, decrying its practitioners as "old whores waiting for a consumer" due to their usage of the
guard
position.
[24]
The
German suplex
is named after Gotch.
[25]
Gotch was inducted into the
Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame
as part of the inaugural class in 1996.
[8]
In 2007, he was inducted into the
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
.
[4]
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.
[5]
[6]
His ashes were mostly spread in Lake Keystone, Florida. However, in 2017, ten years after his death, some of his ashes were interned at a grave in Ekoin Temple in
Arakawa, Tokyo
.
Championships and accomplishments
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Karel ISTAZ"
.
Olympics.com
. Retrieved
2024-01-16
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Olympedia ? Karel Istaz"
.
www.olympedia.org
. Retrieved
2024-01-14
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Karl Gotch"
. Online World of Wrestling
. Retrieved
January 14,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
Oates, Robert K.
"Karl Gotch"
.
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
. Archived from
the original
on May 29, 2009
. Retrieved
January 14,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
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
.
- ^
a
b
Caldwell, James (July 29, 2007).
"Etc. News: Wrestling legend Karl Gotch dies at age 82 in Florida"
. Pro Wrestling Torch
. Retrieved
January 14,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009).
WWE Encyclopedia
.
DK
. p.
168
.
ISBN
978-0-7566-4190-0
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
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
. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013
. Retrieved
January 14,
2013
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
Schramm, Chris (2007-06-29).
"Legacy of 'God of Wrestling' Gotch may be forever"
.
Slam Wrestling
. Retrieved
2024-01-14
.
- ^
a
b
Martinez, Stephen (Sep 4, 2007).
"Kitaoka Headlines Pancrase's Karl Gotch Memorial"
.
Sherdog
. Retrieved
2024-01-17
.
- ^
a
b
Grant, T.P. (2012-02-12).
"MMA Origins: Catch Wrestling Travels to Japan"
.
Bloody Elbow
. Retrieved
2024-01-16
.
- ^
a
b
Grant, T.P. (2012-07-23).
"MMA Origins: Birth of Japanese MMA"
.
Bloody Elbow
. Retrieved
2024-01-16
.
- ^
a
b
Gould, KJ (2012-07-24).
"Karl Gotch Week: Satoru Sayama, Shooto And The Style Of Japanese Catch Wrestling"
.
Bloody Elbow
. Retrieved
2024-01-16
.
- ^
a
b
Gould, KJ (2012-07-28).
"Karl Gotch Week: Rest In Peace Kamisama, 'God Of Wrestling' 1924 ? 2007"
.
Bloody Elbow
. Retrieved
2024-01-16
.
- ^
Snowden, Jonathan (June 2012).
Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling
. Toronto, Canada:
ECW Press
. p. 133.
ISBN
9781770410404
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Hatton, Nathan (Jan 12, 2015).
"New Billy Riley book informs on both the man and Wigan's Snake Pit"
.
Slam Wrestling
. Retrieved
2024-03-22
.
- ^
"Karl Gotch, The Quiet Man, Speaks His Piece" ? December, 1968
- ^
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
- ^
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
.
- ^
"1982"
. Thehistoryofwwe.com
. Retrieved
2022-03-21
.
- ^
Vale, Bart; Jacobs, Mark (Apr 2002).
"The Favorite Fighting Philosophies and Techniques of an American Pioneer"
.
Black Belt
. Vol. 40, no. 4. p. 62.
ISSN
0277-3066
. Retrieved
2024-03-21
.
- ^
Meltzer, Dave (2013-11-16).
"Many pitfalls nearly finished UFC long ago"
.
MMA Fighting
. Retrieved
2024-03-21
.
- ^
a
b
Yamaguchi, Noboru (1997).
紙のプロレス?ラジカル3? カ?ル?ゴッチ神?降臨!!
. Kamipro.
- ^
"Five very European maneuvers for Antonio Cesaro"
.
WWE
. p. 3
. Retrieved
January 14,
2013
.
- ^
Johnson, Mike (June 30, 2009).
"Ricky Steamboat, Nick Bockinkel Among 2009 Class Honored By Wrestling Museum & Institute"
.
PWInsider
. Retrieved
November 30,
2018
.
- ^
Johnson, Mike (March 13, 2022).
"Steve Austin & More: International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2022 Announced"
.
PWInsider.com
.
Archived
from the original on February 2, 2023
. Retrieved
May 13,
2022
.
- ^
"NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship"
.
Cagematch
. Retrieved
October 7,
2023
.
- ^
東京スポ?ツ プロレス大賞
.
Tokyo Sports
(in Japanese)
. Retrieved
2014-01-20
.
- ^
"German Heavyweight Championship Title History"
. Wrestling-titles
. Retrieved
2018-01-06
.
References
[
edit
]
- Catch: The Hold Not Taken
(DVD). 2005.
External links
[
edit
]
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