Report Card: 2025 Aki Basho - Part 4

The final report card for Grand Sumo's 2025 Aki basho, before we switch focus to the Kyushu tournament.

The Kyushu basho gets underway this weekend. It was fun seeing rikishi on Abbey Road and in front of Big Ben, but the Albert Hall matches weren’t exactly what we’re used to seeing. This weekend we’re getting the real deal. And I can’t wait.

Before that happens, though, I have time to write one last thing about the previous tournament. Below is my final report card for the 2025 Aki basho, featuring the san’yaku, ōzeki and yokozuna.

Enjoy!

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Bonus gif today is the crestfallen Wakatakakage.

Aonishiki

Rank: Komusubi 1 West
Record: 11-4, ginō-shō
Grade: A

I’m running out of good things to say about Aonishiki. Despite being just 21, he’s continued to pass every test Grand Sumo can throw at him. In September he finished with an 11-4 record, again. That’s four times in a row, since joining the top division in March. He’s going to be a sekiwake in Kyushu, breaking a record for how fast he reached that rank.

His sensational rise through the ranks is thanks to his quirky style, amazing physicality and keen senses. He’s extremely creative, too. In sumo, creativity requires a lot of boldness and bravery, since the margins for error are so slim and the consequences so dire.

Aonishiki’s age has me thinking, at times, that he’s just too young and stupid (in the kindest way) to be nervous or intimidated. However, we have seen some rare flashes of nerves in past tournamants. I’m thinking when he lost to Kotoshōhō in July.

In this tournament Aonishiki was in a title race up until the penultimate day of the tournament. However, the excellence of our yokozuna shut the door on his chances of lifting a maiden yushō. It was another close, but not close enough basho for the Ukrainian. I’m not marking him down for that. Everything he did in that tournament, like his career thus far, is still astonishing given his age and inexperience.

Aonishiki’s aki basho didn’t get off to a good start, though. He was blasted back off the tachiai by Ōnosato. Aonishiki tried to find an underhook and an angle, but Ōnosato’s pressure and weight gave him no time to act. The pair went down in a messy heap. Aonishiki might have slipped a little, but I think we can give Ōnosato credit for making him slip.

On Day two Aonishiki tried one of his freestyle wrestling style snapdowns on Atamifuji. Though, his brought his elbows into the dirt. This resulted in atorinaoshi. In the rematch he was a little lucky to get Atamifuji out, going with a desperation dive to get him off the ring.

You could say he got a little lucky on the next day, too, using another desperation dive on Kotozakura, as the ōzeki tried to balance on one foot and score the slapdown.

On Day 4 he got dumped by Ōhō in one of the most empathetic losses of his young career. Ōhō played a perfect game plan against him and it might be a blueprint for others going forwards. Ōhō was extremely aggressive with Aonishiki and when Aonishiki tried to lean in to adopt his bent over stance, Ōhō used gaburi-yori (torso thrusting) to straighten him up before pouncing on a throw.

Aonishiki settled down after that and was able to reel off six straight wins. He mostly got those wins after being able to establish his patient, inside grappling game. Even at this young age it seems that if Aonishiki can clinch with you, he’s going to be the favourite to find a method to win a match. He didn’t just grapple his way to wins, though. He managed to push/thrust out a few opponents (including the big pusher/thrusters Tamawashi and Abi).

On Day 11 he got his third loss. This time it was Shōdai who forced Aonishiki to stand straight. Shōdai did that by using his upper body strength to pull Aonishiki up under the arms and then stepped up to go toe-to-toe with him. When stood up like that Aonishiki couldn’t attack his lower body, with trips and taps, like he could if he was bent over.

The bent over posture is what he used to get Hōshōryū down, hooking his inside leg for his second win over the yokozuna. Wins over Takanoshō and Hiradoumi followed to keep him in the race. But, once he was eliminated, he fell to Wakamotoharu on the final day (who played him a lot like Shōdai did).

So now Aonishiki heads to Kyushu with an ōzeki promotion in his sights. I think it’s just a matter of time until he gets that rank. However, I think he’s going to start meeting more resistance on the dohyo now. Ōhō, Shōdai and Wakamotoharu really showed us an effective way to counter his strengths. I’m expecting to see more opponents do this against Aonishiki. It will be up the Blue Whirlwind to adjust to that.

Takayasu

Rank: Komusubi 1 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: C-

Thanks to the results of those around him, Takayasu managed to keep his komusubi rank for Kyushu despite having a make-koshi (losing record). This is the second time this has happened for him all year. I suppose he’s been due some good luck, after a career that has been drastically shaped by injuries.

Takayasu does deserve some credit for rescuing a respectable record after starting the tournament by going 0-6. He fought tough guys in that run, including Hōshōryū and Aonishiki, but he also fought Atamifuji (who had a poor tournament), Ōhō (who he was 6-0 against) and Wakatakakage and Tamawashi (both veterans he has a competitive head-to-head record against).

He got to break his streak against the banged up Abi. After that he only lost to Hakuōhō and Ōnosato.

Takayasu showed us a lot of pushing and thrusting in this tournament. He’s a very balanced wrestler, but I think he might be leaning into that style more to increase his longevity (it’s a lot easier on the body than yotsu-zumō).

On of his best wins came with that style. He was very lively against Kirishima and managed to dance around him and then slap him down. Takayasu’s feet were excellent in that bout, especially on his final side-step. He’s a master at keeping his feet as close to the ground as possible when he moves.

He also got this gorgeous win over Kotozakura.

So a successful tournament for Papayasu, despite the losing record. It’s also another tournament where he lasted the whole 15 days. He’s done that for the last seven tournaments. That’s reason to celebrate.

Kirishima

Rank: Sekiwake 1 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D

After a very good year, where he went 11-4, 8-7, 11-4, 8-7 it pains me to see Kirishima fall with a 6-9 record and lose his sekiwake rank for the second time in twelve months.

It was all looking so good for him, though. He won his first four bouts this tournament (something he did in the July tournament, too). Other than Ōhō on Day 1, the opponents he met were pretty easy match-ups. Abi, Atamifuji and Gōnoyama would all go on to have especially bad tournaments.

After those bouts he came up against stiffer competition and lost his next four. His only other wins this tournament were a dream crushing throw on Wakatakakage, after a marathon bout, and a nice force out on Shōdai.

A feature in Kirishima’s losses were how often he was being pushed around by opponents. He’s usually so good at hand-fighting and deflecting thrusts, preventing anyone from getting a good hard shove on his chest or neck. With him being punted around the ring, his mobility became a liability. He was often caught mid move/side-step and put really off balance.

See how Takanoshō was able to find a home for this thrusts on Kirishima, below:

Kirishima also lost two key bouts, against Aonishiki and Kotozakura, because he went for a makki-kae (a switch from outside position to inside position with one arm). That’s a very risky move, because it involves releasing your grip. Aonishiki and Kotozakura made him pay dearly for that. In both those instances it seemed like Kirishima went for the move out of desperation. That’s disappointing to see, given how creative he is when he’s at his best.

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Kirishima is now maegashira 2 for Kyushu. That’s the lowest he’s been ranked since 2022.

At 29 years-old, I have to believe there’s still plenty left in the tank for Kirishima. I’m hoping this recent tournament serves as motivation for him to really lock in at Kyushu and make better decisions, both defensively (with his deflections) and offensively (by eliminating that last ditch makki-kae).

Wakatakakage

Rank: Sekiwake 1 East
Record: 6-9
Grade: D

Wakatakakage needed 11 wins in September to become an ōzeki. If he had done that, it would have been a real fairy-tale moment. He was working on an ōzeki run when he blew out his knee in a win over Kotozakura in 2023. He’s been excellent since making his way back to makuuchi, with just one losing record out of seven tournaments prior to this.

In this tournament, things started poorly. He was quickly dispatched by the hard and fast tachiai of Hakuōhō (who might have one of the best tachiai in the business right now). That loss was huge. When you’re chasing a win total, losing your first bout must feel like your back is immediately against the wall.

Wakatakakage regrouped with a fast force out on Ōhō. But on the next day he was manhandled by old man Tamawashi. Wakatakakage went on a mini run after that notching wins over the tough Takayasu and then the very poor Abi and Gōnoyama.

On Day 7 he had a very tough time with Aonishiki. I talked earlier about the success guys had keeping Aonishiki upright. This match with Wakatakakage is an example of how dangerous it is to let him operate at that right-angle like pose.

Next was a win over Atamifuji. After that, though, the wheels really fell off his ōzeki run.

He lost to Kirishima, Hiradoumi and then Kotoshōhō. The loss to Hiradoumi made it impossible for him to claim 11 wins. An extremely generous JSA (and one who really wants two ōzeki on the banzuke) might have given him the promotion with 10 wins. But the loss to Kotoshōhō ruined that possibility.

After the Kirishima and Hiradoumi losses you could see the weight crushing down on Wakatakakage’s shoulders. I think the pressure might have gotten to him in those bouts. Then, with the Kotoshōhō loss, you could see he knew it was all over and how much that hurt him. It was brutal and I felt genuinely sad for the man.

He fought really hard in that Kirishima bout, but he was never able to get out of the blocks for Hiradoumi and Kotoshōhō. Technically, he didn’t do a ton wrong in those bouts. He was just hit really hard on the tachiai and was at an immediate disadvantage. If he wasn’t dealing with so much mental pressure, maybe things would have been different.

This episode really reminds us that, in sports, no one is owed a happy ending, even if you think they really deserve it.

Wakatakakage is now maegashira 1 for Kyushu. It’s not impossible that he gets himself back into an ōzeki run, but it gets least likely with every tournament that goes by.

Kotozakura

Rank: Ōzeki 1 East
Record: 9-5-1
Grade:

I was very happy with Kotozakura’s aki basho.