Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Karl Gotch


Dylan Waco

Recommended Posts

It was interesting watching the Yoshimura match that GOTNW posted as it seems all you ever read about Gotch is people debating how tough he really was or claiming he couldn't work the type of matches that draw. He looked pretty good on the mat though he was taking it kind of easy on Yoshimura. I would have liked to have seen the Japanese worker fight a bit harder to get a limb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Gotch is hard for me. He looks good in what we have of him but we have so little. Obviously he gets more attention from me than he would if he wasn't such a legendary and influential figure but that's exactly why he is problematic for me. Pretty much all my favourite wrestling can be traced directly back to Gotch and his influence in both shaping the traditional New Japan style and training wrestlers is enormous. As I've said before influence is something I sometimes I take into account and with Gotch it's so significant that I have a hard time leaving him off because of it. I could see making him my #100.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...
  • 1 year later...

It's a shame we don't have more footage of him, but we have shows why he was so highly regarded. My personal belief is that if someone wants to rank him high based on available footage + historical documentation + his lineage of trainees and his influence on the development of the industry in Japan, they should feel comfortable doing so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Control21 said:

It's a shame we don't have more footage of him, but we have shows why he was so highly regarded. My personal belief is that if someone wants to rank him high based on available footage + historical documentation + his lineage of trainees and his influence on the development of the industry in Japan, they should feel comfortable doing so.

I think so too, I have Thesz at number 13 so I wouldn't have a problem with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If nothing else, we have the sheer variety of the "Rugged Russians" WWWF match and his Japan work. That gives you a sense of potential breadth. Still, I get the sense he was absolutely great. Unquestionably great. He is one of the greatest wrestlers ever. I just don't think I have enough to rate him relative to other wrestlers or figure out where he'd be on a list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...