Karl Gotch is the ring name of
Karl Istaz (August 3, 1924 in Belgium - July 28, 2007 in the U.S), Belgian-born
professional wrestler, popularly known as "the god of pro-wrestling" in Japan. Of mixed German and Hungarian extraction, he was a freestyle and graeco-roman stylist and a former Olympian. After training in "The Snake Pit" ( a famous school of wrestling founded and run by renowned wrestler Bill Riley) in England, he embarked on a professional career in Europe before leaving for the United States. An excellent wrestler in his time, he won his first U.S. heavyweight championship under the AWA (American Wrestling Association) in 1962. He lost the title to Lou Thesz two years later. He was known for his "shoot" wrestlling - an unplanned, spontaneous style as opposed to "show" wrestling popular today - which soon alienated him from American promoters. Following a brief stint in the WWWF (now the WWE), he then went to Japan. There he won wide popularity after defeating Antonio Inoki in the inaugural match of the New Japan Professional Wrestling in 1972. In retirement he became a trainer.