Karl Istaz

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Karl Istaz


Statistics
Ring name(s)	Karl Krauser Karl Gotch
Billed height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight	111 kg (245 lb)
Born	1924 Hamburg
Resides	Florida
Trained by	"Billy Joyce" Joe Robinson Bob Robinson Billy Riley
Debut	1956

Karl Istaz (born in 1924) is a German professional wrestler who is best known by his ring name Karl Gotch. In Japan he is called "The God of Pro Wrestling" due to his influence in shaping the Japanese professional wrestling style. As an amateur wrestler he competed for Belgium in the 1948 Olympics (as Charles Istaz). He is of German and Hungarian ancestry.

The move German suplex is named after him. He performed in the World Wrestling Federation where he won the WWF Tag Team Championship.

1 Career
2 Japan
3 Finishing and signature moves
4 Championships and accomplishments
5 External links

[edit] Career

He participated in amateur wresting, and competed in the 1948 Olympics for Belgium, in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.

Istaz's professional wrestling career began when he became student at the "Snake Pit" started by catch wrestler Billy Riley. After completing his training he debuted as a professional wrestler under the ring name Karl Krauser. Early on he competed in Europe, and later began touring in the United States. He did not immediatelly fit in in the American wrestling scene due to his wrestling style and dislike for the less athletic more entertainment style of business.

In 1961 he adapted the ring name of Karl Gotch (after Frank Gotch), and began a successful stint in the American Wrestling Association, where he won the AWA Ohio Heavyweight Title in 1962. He held the belt for two years before losing it to Lou Thesz, one of the few American wrestlers he respected because of the similarities of their styles (the two also have common German and Hungarian heritage). The two men later teamed in Japan.

Gotch also got involved in a series of feuds with the "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. Gotch wanted a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight title, and Rogers wanted to avoid getting in the ring with a wrestler he feared would shoot on him, beating him for real and stealing the championship that way. This eventually led to a locker room fist fight between the two. These events alienated Gotch from the American promoters.

[edit] Japan

Gotch left for Japan, where he became very popular. His more athletic, less entertainment-based wrestling style was passed on to Antonio Inoki, who further developed it into the strong style that has been the norm in New Japan Pro Wrestling ever since. He is also credited on giving Inoki the inspiration to participate in mixed martial arts, which later led to the popularity of that sport.

Gotch also taught catch wrestling to other wrestlers beside Inoki, including Tatsumi Fujinami, Hiro Matsuda, Osamu Kido, Satoru Sayama, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

During a trip to India, Gotch met some pehlwani wrestlers who taught him their training methods. This led to Gotch's training philosophy to never use weights and only use his own body weight and aerobic exercise to train. Because of this, his muscle bulk was never huge, unlike other professional wrestlers in general. This philosophy was passed on to several of his students.

Gotch's students formed the original Japanese UWF, which included the likes of Satoru Sayama and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. The federation eventually developed the martial art of shoot wrestling under Karl Gotch.