Karl Gotch
Belgian professional wrestler and trainer (1924–2007)
卡尔·高奇 · カール・ゴッチ · 칼 고치
- Born
- 3 August 1924, Antwerp
- Died
- 28 July 2007
- Citizenship
- Belgium
- Sport
- amateur wrestling, professional wrestling
- Occupation
- professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, catch trainer
- Height
- 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Charles Istaz (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007), known by the ring name Karl Gotch (カール・ゴッチ, Kāru Gotchi), was a Belgian and American professional wrestler, catch wrestler, amateur wrestler, and trainer. Considered one of the most influential wrestlers of his time period, he is best known for training several acclaimed and influential professional wrestlers in Japan, and for becoming a catalyst in the faculty development of strong style, alongside New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki and fellow trainer Billy Robinson.
Gotch represented Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He learned catch-as-catch-can and professional wrestling at the Snake Pit under Billy Riley and Billy Joyce. He was given the ring name "Gotch" by Ohio promoter Al Haft in honor of American wrestler Frank Gotch. In Japan, he became known as a "God of Wrestling" alongside Billy Robinson and Lou Thesz, due to their collective influence on Japanese professional wrestling.
Competitions
| Competition | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 Summer Olympics | 1948 |
Awards and honours
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
Teachers
- Billy Joyce
- Billy Riley
Students
- Antonio Inoki
- Tatsumi Fujinami
- Satoru Sayama
- Akira Maeda
- Osamu Kido
- Yoshiaki Fujiwara
- Hiro Matsuda
- Charles Verhulst
- Masami Soranaka
- Kotetsu Yamamoto
- Kantaro Hoshino
- Osamu Nishimura
- Masakatsu Funaki
- Minoru Suzuki
- Masanobu Fuchi
- Nobuhiko Takada
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q1373145 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.