Wrestling Legend Passes Away & More News

News

Karl Charles Istaz (Karl Gotch) passed away at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time Saturday night, a few days short of his 83rd birthday. WrestlingObserver.com’s Dave Meltzer writes, “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.” According to Meltzer, per his wishes, there will be no funeral or viewing for Gotch. Instead, those who want to pay respects are asked to donate to animal rescue, in particular Pit Bull terrier rescue, with donations in his name being sent to:

Paw’d Squad Animal Rescue
P.O. Box 6564
Burbank, CA 91510-6564

SLAM! Wrestling has posted a good obituary on Gotch, and we would like to send his family and loved ones our condolences.

In other news:

– CNN.com has a feature on Chris Nowinski and the effects of concussions in sports here.

– In an interview at http://www.inyourheadonline.com, Dustin Rhodes “mentioned that when he and his brother Cody inducted their father into the WWE Hall of Fame, they introduced him as Dustin Runnels and his brother as Cody Rhodes, as if he weren’t a member of the family. He didn’t know why they did that except that it seemed like one of Vince’s ways of sticking it to someone” according to a report by Norrin Radd.

– There is an interview with Trevor Murdoch where he talks about the Benoit tragedy on SLAM! Wrestling.

– The latest Jim Ross blog entry is here, where JR talks about BBQ, Chris Jericho and more.

– Marc Mero is expected to be on Nancy Grace tomorrow on CNN/HN.

– There will be a “WWE Week” on Family Feud taping in August, which you can read all about here.

– Chris Jericho talks about his first sexual experience in his new book, and the NY Post talks about it.

– Ric Flair loves dogs.

– WWE.com has a story up on Ken Kennedy’s comeback here and one on Ron Simmons’ connection to Teddy Long here.

– Homicide posted this statement about a recent indie event on MySpace.

– RVD was recently interviewed by KABC, which you can listen to here (part one) and here (part two) in MP3 format.

Matthew Michaels is editor emeritus of Pulse Wrestling, and has been since the site launched.