#54 - Karl Gotch
by Glenn Harrison

    A technical wizard and a prominent champion during a career that spanned four decades, he was a legend in the early years of Puroresu while inspiring the shootfighting style of modern Japanese pro wrestling. Also among the top trainers in the history of the industry, his supreme skills led him to be known as Japan’s “God of Professional Wrestling;” as Karl Gotch is #54 among the sport’s 100 Most Influential Figures.

   Karl Istaz was born on August 3, 1924 in Antwerp, Belgium. His family was of German/Hungarian descent; and while he was still a child, Karl moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he would thus grow up amidst the horrors of the Nazi regime. Istaz began wrestling at just 9 years old, and he eventually went on to compete in various school leagues. After turning 18, he wrestled in numerous amateur clubs for several years; and he eventually became a seven-time Belgium National Champion in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman grappling styles. After competing for Belgium in the 1948 Summer Olympics, Istaz soon decided to turn professional; and he subsequently began learning the basic techniques of pro grappling by training under several old-time German wrestlers. However, in 1951, Istaz traveled to Billy Riley’s famous “Snake Pit” wrestling gym in Wigan, Britain, where he engaged in a rigorous program under the guidance of Riley, who was a well-respected “hooker” and a feared submission grappler. Consequently, Istaz himself soon developed a reputation as one of the industry’s top “shooters;” and during the 1950’s, he won a number of tournaments throughout Europe, capturing the German Heavyweight Title and eventually the European Championship while competing under the name Karl Krauser.

   However, Istaz eventually grew disenchanted with the European wrestling system, which often centered on tournaments that subsequently restricted free travel to various regions. As a result, he traveled to the U.S. in 1959, but despite his status as an expert shooter (and his ability to wrestle circles around most of his competitors), Karl Krauser languished in the lower cards due to his lack of charisma. With televised wrestling sweeping the nation, Karl’s thick accent and mild mannerisms prevented him from giving entertaining, crowd-pleasing interviews; and promoters thus passed him over in favor of inferior wrestlers with more engaging personalities. Therefore, in an attempt to add to his persona, he began wrestling as Karl Gotch in 1961 in deference to American pro wrestling pioneer Frank Gotch; and he finally achieved a measure of success when, on March 4, 1962, he defeated Don Leo Jonathan for Ohio’s American Wrestling Alliance Championship, a title he would hold for nearly two years before losing to Lou Thesz.

   During this period, Karl Gotch would begin a real-life dispute with the legendary “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers, who was the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion and perhaps the sport’s top drawing card. As the AWA (Ohio) Champion, Gotch felt that he was entitled to a shot at Rogers’ NWA World Title; but knowing Gotch’s ability as a legitimate wrestling “hooker,” Rogers refused to agree to a match out of the fear that Gotch might turn it into a shoot encounter in order to gain himself notoriety. As a result, much animosity developed between the two men, and it eventually resulted in a Gotch-initiated locker room altercation in which Rogers was left a beaten and battered man. Gotch was therefore arrested on an assault charge, and though he was soon released on a $25 bond, the incident had already alienated him from many of the top U.S. promoters, as Gotch thus found himself barred from many of the major regional territories. Consequently, Gotch would achieve only modest success in the U.S. thereafter, including brief reigns as a tag team champion in the WWA (where he teamed with “Iron” Mike DiBiase in 1967) and the WWWF (where he partnered with Rene Goulet between 1971-72).

   During the mid-1960’s, Gotch ventured to Australia, where he again competed under the “Karl Krauser” moniker while also defeating Spiros Arion for the International Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Title in 1965. Moreover, it was around this same time when Gotch began wrestling more frequently in Japan, where the sport had experienced an initial rise in popularity under founding Puroresu icon Rikidozan. The Japanese fans were much more enamored with pure, technical wrestling than their American counterparts; and they were immediately enthralled by Gotch’s superior talent and athleticism. Upon arriving in Japan, Karl Gotch established himself as the country’s premier technical wrestler, as well as the foremost “gaijin” (foreigner) in the history of Japanese Puroresu while facing national icons like Rikidozan and Michiaki Yoshimura, among others. Consequently, Gotch’s intense grappling style would eventually become the model for much of Japan’s emerging talent; and over the course of the next decade, Japanese fans soon hailed him as “the God of Professional Wrestling” and an “Uncrowned World Heavyweight Champion,” as Karl Gotch became known as one of the country’s greatest all-time wrestling wizards. Moreover, Gotch would also capture several titles while competing in Japan, including New Japan’s prestigious “Real” World Heavyweight Championship in 1972.

   In addition to his legendary status in Japan, Karl Gotch’s greatest overall influence may be as one of the most accomplished wrestling trainers in history, as his eventual roster of protégés reads like a “Who’s Who” list of the greatest Japanese wrestlers of all-time, including Antonio Inoki, Hiro Matsuda, Tatsumi Fujinami, Saturu Sayama (Tiger Mask), Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Akira Maeda, Osamu Kido, Masanobu Fuchi, Killer Khan, and so many others. Consequently, it is virtually impossible to imagine where wrestling in Japan might be today had it not been for Gotch’s influence, as practically every young Japanese wrestling talent of the 1970’s and 80’s sought the direct guidance of this wrestling grandmaster. Known to possess over 1,000 different submission locks in his vast repertoire, Karl Gotch also revolutionized numerous conditioning techniques for grapplers, as he constantly traveled throughout the world in search of new exercises and drills. Ultimately, his array of grueling workouts would become known as “The Karl Gotch Bible,” and his routines are featured prominently amongst the pages of Matt Furey’s best-selling book Combat Conditioning: Functional Exercises for Fitness & Combat Sports.

   Karl Gotch wrestled his last official match on January 1, 1982 when he defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara in Tokyo; and to this day, he is still revered as a wrestling “God” in Japan while he continues to mentor aspiring young grapplers. Despite his relative notoriety and lack of U.S. success, his overall influence remains far-reaching over the sport (for instance, it is Gotch’s prized student, Hiro Matsuda, who eventually served as the trainer for a young Hulk Hogan and a myriad of other future stars). A genuine trend-setter, and one of wrestling’s most proficient all-time technicians, Karl Gotch is honored at #54 among wrestling’s 100 Most Influential Figures.

Back to Top 100 List