Podcast: Recapping the Kyushu basho + my prediction results!

I tried to predict the win-loss record for every top division rikishi.

Nov 27, 2025

∙ Paid

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re well and still basking in that post-basho glow.

This week I chatted with my pal Stephie Haynes about the Kyushu basho (she really put me on the spot in this one!). You can check out that conversation below:

Level Change Podcast

2025 Kyushu Basho Review with Tim Bissell | Ep. 385

The Kyushu Basho wrapped up this past Sunday putting the excitement of 2025 to bed officially. We saw our two Yokozuna battle for supremacy and a third competitor that ended up besting them both to take the tournament. That’s why we have our good friend, Tim Bissell of…

Listen now

4 days ago · Stephie Haynes, Victor M Rodriguez, and Tim Bissell

Steph is a combat sports podcast legend. You should follow her here on Substack (link). That way you’ll see when she drops episodes of The Level Change, Hey Not The Face! and other great shows.

Steph put this recent podcast up for free to give lots of people a chance to check out my appearance, which is really very nice.

After you’ve checked that out, you might be interested to see the results of my Kyushu predictions.Those are below, past the pay-wall (I gotta eat, folks!).

Bonus gif is the Star Boy himself.

Here’s how I did.

Predictions with a green font mean I was right about whether someone would have a wining or losing record. Red font means I was wrong about that. I went 27-15 when it comes to that. That’s the best I’ve done yet (in three tournaments).

A green background means I was exactly right about the prediction. Yellow means I was one win off. Orange means I was two wins off and red means I was off by three or more.

I got nine correct predictions, which is another new high for me. I had 22 predictions which are green or yellow and 20 which are orange or red. Not half bad, huh?

Here’s a few interesting spots where I was right/wrong about the tournament.

I guess I called the three-way race

I was off by one win with Ōnosato, Hoshōryū and Aonishiki.

I had Hoshōryū as my pick to win it, beating Ōnosato on the last day and with Aonishiki coming in right behind those two. We almost saw this happen. Regardless, I’m delighted that Aonishiki exceeded my expectation and was able to pip Hoshōryū to the post.

Here’s what I wrote about Aonishiki before the tournament:

Death, taxes and Aonishiki getting 11 wins, right? He’s gotten 11-4 in all four of his previous top division tournaments, despite things getting tougher due to his promotion up the ranks. He’s cut out to be sekiwake (at least!) and he’s going to prove that this month.

I was right about him being cut out to be a sekiwake (at least!). I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Blue Whirlwind is now an ōzeki.

Way wrong on Ōhō

I projected Ōhō to win 11 bouts in this tournament. Boy was a I wrong about that. The grandson of the legendary Taihō managed just 7-8, failing to get the kachi-koshi for a second time as a sekiwake. I thought his previous experience, in March, would have had him better prepared for this go-around.

Here’s what I wrote about him:

I think Ōhō has improved a lot this year. In January he got into a play-off with Hoshōryu and Kinbōzan. That set up his debut sekiwake tournament in March. He really struggled there and was immediately demoted. He’s been good since then, though. And he was good in September, too. He’s gotten quicker and meaner lately and he’s a guy who can potentially give our yokozuna some issues. I think his failure last time at this rank is going to help him here and we’re going to see a big tournament from the legacy wrestler.

Ōhō just couldn’t win enough battles with the big names to get a winning record here. He lost to Takayasu, Aonishiki, Kotozakura, Hoshōryū and Ōnosato. I know the vast majority of wrestlers lose against those guys, but Ōhō has a really good record against them. He’s got ten wins against our current yokozuna and four over Kotozakura plus one each against Takayasu and Aonishiki.

He’s still young and improving, though, so I’m sure I’ll make another big prediction about Ōhō in the near future.

Way wrong on Ura, too

I hated being so mean about the Peach Prince when I made my prediction. I projected him to pick up just a measly four wins. Thankfully, Ura did way better than that and actually managed a kachi-koshi.

Here’s why I was down on the chances of that happening back before the tournament:

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