20 Facts About Karl Gotch

Karel Istaz, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch, was a Belgian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch wrestler, and trainer.

Karl Gotch had significantly influenced the development of modern mixed martial arts, especially in Japan.

Karl Gotch's philosophy was later passed on to several of his students.

Karl Gotch debuted in 1950, wrestling throughout Europe under the ring name Karl Krauser, and winning titles including the German Heavyweight Championship and the European Championship.

Karl 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.

In 1962, Karl Gotch was involved in a backstage altercation with the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, in which Rogers was injured.

Karl Gotch 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.

Karl Gotch wrestled in Australia as Karl Krauser, and in 1965 he defeated Spiros Arion to win the International Wrestling Alliance's Heavyweight Championship.

Karl Gotch had begun working in Japan, where he became very popular due to his sport wrestling style.

Karl Gotch wrestled in the main event of the very first show held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling on March 6,1972, defeating Antonio Inoki.

Karl Gotch had previously trained NJPW founding members Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi.

Three notable students of Karl Gotch's were Killer Khan, Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshiaki Fujiwara.

Karl Gotch 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.

Karl Gotch's wrestling style, alongside fellow hooker Lou Thesz, had a big impact on Inoki, who adopted and popularized his submission-based style.

Karl Gotch influenced the development of mixed martial arts through his students including Antonio Inoki, Satoru Sayama, Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Akira Maeda, and Nobuhiko Takada.

Several other professional wrestlers who had been, at some point, taught by Karl Gotch include El Canek, Riki Choshu, Masanobu Fuchi, Bob Backlund, and brothers Joe and Dean Malenko.

Karl Gotch was friends and training partners with judo exponents Masahiko Kimura and Kiyotaka Otsubo, who had tenures as professional wrestlers.

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

Karl Gotch innovated the cradle piledriver and the kneeling belly-to-belly piledriver.

Karl Gotch's ashes were mostly spread in Lake Keystone, Florida.