Karl Gotch Passes Away

Fozzy

From the Wrestling Observer:

Karl Charles Istaz, known internationally as Karl Gotch, passed away at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time tonight. He was a few days shy of 83 years old.

A former place-winner in the 1948 Olympics in London, Istaz went to the famed Wigan school where he learned submission wrestling. He migrated to the U.S. where he had a reputation in some circles as the toughest man alive.

He ended up becoming a legend in Japan, where he was eventually nicknamed "The God of Professional Wrestling." He was the trainer for New Japan Pro Wrestling and later the original UWF, and his influence in students like Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada led to the rise of shootfighting and eventually MMA in that country.

I doubt many people here have ever seen Gotch wrestle, but he had a huge influence not only on wrestling but on MMA too, especially in Japan where it's largely due to him that they wrestle the style they do there in the majority of places

He trained the guy who trained Hogan, he trained the guy who invented the dragon sleeper and dragon suplex, he trained Demolition Smash and the original Tiger Mask. As Meltzer said, he was a huge influence on Maeda (who helped K-1 set up their Heroes MMA organisation) and Takada (who was the figurehead of PRIDE). His influence really can't be understated. He also did 9001 Hindu squats in a row once. A conditioning freak

RIP

Vince135792003

I seriously didn't know he was still alive. RIP

fatal

I have seen none of his wrestling but I have read about his huge influence in japan with his wrestling as well as trainin.He will be missed:(

Rip Karl Gotch

dlofnep

Yeah I read - Very sad. Karl was one of the true pioneers of catch wrestling. Make no mistake about it, he was a legit shooter and was way ahead of his time. His technical ability was much more appreciated in Japan over the visual-freaks in the US.