Post by Head Booker on Jul 29, 2007 23:18:24 GMT -6
"God of Wrestling" passes away today
by Dave Meltzer
Karl Charles Istaz, known internationally as Karl Gotch, passed away at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time tonight. He was a few days shy of 83 years old.
A former place-winner in the 1948 Olympics in London, Istaz went to the famed Wigan school where he learned submission wrestling. He migrated to the U.S. where he had a reputation in some circles as the toughest man alive.
He ended up becoming a legend in Japan, where he was eventually nicknamed "The God of Professional Wrestling." He was the trainer for New Japan Pro Wrestling and later the original UWF, and his influence in students like Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada led to the rise of shootfighting and eventually MMA in that country.
by Dave Meltzer
Karl Charles Istaz, known internationally as Karl Gotch, passed away at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time tonight. He was a few days shy of 83 years old.
A former place-winner in the 1948 Olympics in London, Istaz went to the famed Wigan school where he learned submission wrestling. He migrated to the U.S. where he had a reputation in some circles as the toughest man alive.
He ended up becoming a legend in Japan, where he was eventually nicknamed "The God of Professional Wrestling." He was the trainer for New Japan Pro Wrestling and later the original UWF, and his influence in students like Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada led to the rise of shootfighting and eventually MMA in that country.
