Karl Gotch

Early life Istaz was born in Antwerp, Belgium on August 3, 1924. His father, Edward, was a sailor of Hungarian ancestry who was employed to the Belgian Naval Component; his mother, Johanna (née van Heisteren), was an Imperial German citizen who had majority Dutch ancestry. At a young age and at the advice of his father, he became embroiled in competition at a tavern in Antwerp that was home to a collective of grapplers and boxers. He was let go in 1943, and took up a blacksmithing job. He and his family were transported yet again soon afterwards, now transported to the REIMAHG-A plant in Walpersberg, near Kahla. He was let go after the liberation of Belgium, and once again took up blacksmithing. He won several national amateur titles, both as a light heavyweight and later a heavyweight, between 1946 and 1950. ), he represented Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling once again as a Light heavyweight, notably losing to eventual silver medalists Fritz Stöckli and Kelpo Gröndahl in freestyle and Greco-Roman respectively. His only win at the Olympics via technical outcome was a decision win over Athanasios Kambaflis in freestyle.

Professional wrestling career

Europe and the United States Istaz was initially hesitant to becoming a professional wrestler, considering he wanted to advance his career in amateur wrestling and be "vengeful" for his losses in the European and Olympic championships. However, when Istaz realized of the financial capabilities of wrestling as a professional compared to being an amateur wrestler for his wife Ella and daughter Janine, he took it up. he began wrestling as Karl Gotch, named for Frank Gotch, by premier Ohio promoter-wrestler Al Haft. They lost the championship on February 1, 1972, to Baron Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis Iaukea. Karl was able to bring in stars like Lou Thesz, André The Giant, and Billy Robinson for the promotion of the new brand. By 1973, JWA shut down entirely.

Karl temporarily lived near the NJPW dojo, akin to his time in the JWA dojo. His first students included Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Tatsumi Fujinami. Fujiwara wanted to become a pro wrestler after a failed career in restauranteering and assistance; by that period, Fujinami had been accepted as a main understudy of Antonio Inoki. Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask, , , Kuniaki Kobayashi, and Osamu Kido were later brought in as disciples of Gotch's methods as "Young Lions", and the class became his primary focus while in NJPW. Others that also took to Gotch's methods included Gran Hamada and Mr. Pogo, despite their eventual influence on separate wrestling styles (Hamada for lucharesu, Pogo for hardcore wrestling).

Yoshiaki Fujiwara eventually became close friends with Gotch, as seen and depicted in the Karl Gotch: Kamisama film by Fumi Saito; Fujiwara would become the producer of the Karl Gotch Training Book, which detailed the training methods used by Gotch on him and his dojo-mates. He also developed a close relationship with Joe Malenko, who was touted as being a junior to Gotch in generational senses. Malenko paid tribute to Gotch after his death by appearing at numerous ceremonies honoring him over the years since 2007. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Gotch kept his role as both the head booker and sole trainer for NJPW. Animal Hamaguchi Hiro Matsuda Soranaka died on June 16, 1992 of a brain tumor, aged 48. Via Janine and Soranaka, Karl has five grandchildren: Eddy Tsuyoshi Soranaka (September 1971 - September 2019), Nina Yoshiko Soranaka (b. November 1972, now Nina Porto), Joseph Yoshiaki Soranaka (b. September 1986), Maria Theresia Koharu Soranaka (b. March 1989), and Masami Saburo Soranaka (b. August 1992). Masami Saburo was born after the elder Masami had died; Janine, Masami and Nina were shown in the Fumi Saito-produced documentary about Gotch, Kamisama, in the summer of 1992. Nina gave birth to her first child in 2000, making Karl a great-grandfather whilst he was alive.

Istaz was an avid lover of pit bulls, which were introduced to him via Billy Robinson. In his will, it was made that with whatever spare money he had left that it would go to pit bull charities in Florida. A rescue fund was set up by the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Paw'd Squad Animal Rescue in Karl's name and likeness. He cited his favorite wrestler as Finnish wrestler Waino Ketonen, referring to him as "the greatest amateur wrestler that Europe ever produced".

Istaz died on July 28, 2007, in his home in Tampa, Florida, six days before his 83rd birthday. His ashes were mostly spread in Keystone, Florida; however, in 2017, ten years after his death, some of his ashes were interred at a grave in the Honjo Ekō-in Buddhist temple in Ryōgoku, Tokyo.

Legacy

Physical conditioning Whilst he was known for his professional and catch wrestling skills, 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 push-ups. Many of these practices became more widespread as Gotch continued to exercise his legacy, and the Hindu squats and bridge later became routine for several catch and professional wrestling schools. His "Gotch Bible", which was used for calisthenic and strength conditioning training in the form of playing cards, is still used today.

Professional wrestling Karl Gotch became known as a "God" (神様, Kami-sama) in Japan. The actual German suplex itself was not innovated by Gotch, but by unspecified Finnish wrestlers (according to Gotch). The cradle piledriver, which also shares the name the . It is the tributed signature maneuver of Gotch student Minoru Suzuki. The kneeling reverse piledriver, which is mostly known as the Tombstone Piledriver after the popularization of the move by The Undertaker. It was also used by the likes of Kazuchika Okada, André The Giant, and Drew McIntyre. The Dragon Sleeper (ドラゴン スリーパー, Doragon surīpā): a inverted north-south neck crank. It became the signature submission maneuver of Tatsumi Fujinami, and later the likes of The Undertaker (as the "Taking Care of Business") and Sanada (as the "Skull End"). The . It was also a signature move attributed to Fujinami, as well as Keiji Mutoh and Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Sasori-gatame (蠍固め): a figure-four variant of the traditional single-leg Boston crab (Medio Cangrejo), it was passed down to Riki Choshu, a student of Gotch. It became anglicized as the Scorpion deathlock in the case of Ron Garvin and Sting, or the Sharpshooter in the case of Bret Hart.

Gotch was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1996.

Gotch was friends and training partners with judo exponents Masahiko Kimura and Kiyotaka Otsubo, who also had tenures as professional wrestlers. 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. He also referred to BJJ gyms as "whorehouses".

Championships and accomplishments American Wrestling Alliance (Ohio) AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2022 National Wrestling Alliance NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship (2 times) New Japan Pro-Wrestling Real World Championship (2 times) Tokyo Sports Service Award (2007) World Championship Wrestling (Australia) IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Other titles German Heavyweight Championship (1 time) European Championship (1 time)