Report Card: 2025 Natsu Basho - Part 1

Grading the top division rikishi who were involved in the May tournament.

Here’s the first of this month’s report cards for the summer tournament. My goal is to have these out a lot quicker than usual, so we then have a decent amount of time to focus on the next tournament before it starts up.

In this report card I’ve analyzed the performances of Tochitaikai, Asakōryū, Tamashōhō, Nishikigi, Kayo, Shonannoumi and Ryūden.

This is pay-walled post, as will all the other report card posts be for the foreseeable future. I’m a poor mature student and Sumo Stomp! adds a very needed chunk of money to the family coffers each month. I need to protect that by having some of my work only for paid subscribers.

No matter what, though, I plan to keep the daily tournament posts free for all. That’s how a lot of people find me and I see those as the “try before you buy” content on here.

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Bonus gif today is this one of Nishikigi, which could easily fit on r/girlsmirin

(I believe this is Tobizaru’s sister-in-law)

One final note… I did the prize draw for the Cheeky Sumo sweatshirt and have messaged the winner. Louis, if you’re ready this, check your spam folder!

Alright, enough of that… let’s get into some grades!

Tochitaikai

Rank: Maegashira 18 East
Record: 4-11
Grade: E

Tochitaikai struggled in his makuuchi (top division) debut. He was a promising 3-1 to start this basho, but then lost ten in a row. All of Tochitaikai’s wins came against other wrestlers who lost at least ten bouts. And one of those, versus Tamashōhō, was due to an inadvertent step out. You put all that together and it’s hard to take many positives from Tochitaikai’s tournament.

Tochitaikai is a oshi-zumō (pusher/thruster) practitioner with good size. He suffers from a lack of athleticism and power. His pushes and thrusts don’t have much snap on them. He also has poor balance and was easily knocked off his feet a handful of times. Oh, and he’s terrible in chest-to-chest battles.

In additional to these physical flaws, Tochitaikai’s sumō seemed to lack any kind of intensity and/or desire. He can learn and improve on the physical stuff, but those personality traits might prevent him doing anything notable in the top division.

Asakōryū

Rank: Maegashira 17 West
Record: 10-5
Grade: B+

This basho was a coming out party for Asakōryū. In going 10-5 he proved he deserved his spot in makuuchi (which he could have easily lost before this tournament, after going 6-9 from M16 in March). Most of Asakōryū’s wins were against the dregs of the division (Tamashōhō, Tochitaikai, Shonannoumi, etc.). However, he did pick up some wins against decent mid-maegashira names (Atamifuji, Sadanoumi, Rōga, Ōnokatsu).

Asakōryū’s lack of size isn’t that much of an impairment for him. That’s due to how strong he is despite his size. Many larger wrestlers try and overpower him in yotsu (belt grabbing) battles only to get embarrassed when they can’t push him around.

Asakōryū’s real success comes from the diversity of his sumō. He’s a good pusher/thruster and grappler. He shows a lot of commitment in his thrusts and his size makes it easy for him to strike upwards at opponents. This helps him land effective nodowa (throat thrusts) and hazuoshi (armpit thrusts). He used hazuoshi to get out the massive Nishikigi in May.

With grappling, Asakōryū will lock up either migi-yotsu (right arm inside, left arm outside) or hidari-yotsu (left arm inside, right arm outside). From both of those positions he likes to focus on his left arm to get a finish. When his left arm is on the inside, he likes to grab the mawashi and then separate to drag his opponents down with the shitatenage (underarm throw). When his left arm is on the outside he’s especially good at turning that into a kote (armlock) and using that to pull his opponents around or throw them over (like he did to Rōga below). In the Rōga bout you can also see Asakōryū’s strength (and steel) on full display when he resisted the force out.

Asakōryū risks being known as a novelty wrestler, due to his look. But he’s a very skilled technician and, while I don’t think he’ll ever get a yusho, he can definitely survive up here in the Land of the Giants.

Tamashōhō

Rank: Maegashira 17 East
Record: 4-11
Grade: D-

That’s now two make-koshi (losing records) in two attempts to crack makuuchi for Tamashōhō. And, sadly, I just haven’t seen anything in the 32 year-old to make me think he will ever be a relevant factor in the top division.

Tamashōhō’s lack of bulk is always going to make things difficult for him. To make up for that he has to have far above average mobility and fight IQ. He doesn’t have either. He does fight with personality, which is very important. You can tell he wants to win and he’s not afraid of contact. This can sometimes present itself in over-eagerness with his thrusting, though, where he will miss big on a thrust and put himself right into the arms of a yotsu-zumō guy or throw himself out of position versus another pusher/thruster.

Tamashōhō will be back to jūryō (second division) after this. He may pop up to makuuchi again, but I doubt he’ll make two tournaments in a row up here.

Nishikigi

Rank: Maegashira 16 West
Record: 6-9
Grade: D

I think Nishikigi took it easy in the March tournament (where he went 3-12) to conserve himself for this one. It feels like the 34 year-old knows that he simply doesn’t have back-to-back tournaments at full effort in him anymore (especially after leg injuries last year). He started this one well, going 5-0 and landing a rare fisherman’s throw on the jūryō call-up Fujiseun. He lost nine of the next ten bouts, though, giving him a make-koshi that puts him perilously close to a jūryō demotion. In my mock banzuke (link) I have him surviving the drop, but others have him going down.

When Nishikigi’s good he can engulf opponents off the tachiai, dig his heels in and then use gabori-yuri (hug-and-chug) to march them out. He can’t do that for an entire tournament, though. The rest of the time he either gets inched back and out (like what happened with Ōnokatsu and Rōga) or is dragged forwards, over his toes, and forced face first into the clay (like what happened with Atamifuji and Kotoshōhō).

If Nishikigi is sent down to jūryō, I think he’ll bounce right back up. The talent drops off enough between divisions that he’ll be simply too big for a lot of the guys down there to move (that’s what happened with Mitakeumi in May). Even so, I’m not sure that Nishikigi can keep doing this for very long.

Kayo

Rank: Maegashira 16 East
Record: 7-8
Grade: C-

Kayo was, by far, our shortest rikishi competing in the top division in May. He’s about as wide as he is tall, so he invoked memories of Bushōzan. However, Kayo showed he has a lot more athleticism and speed than his fellow beach ball shaped wrestler. Kayo came into this tournament nursing an injury suffered on tour. That might explain why he went 0-4 to start the basho. After that, though, he went 7-4 and showed flashes of being a really interesting character. His second half of the tournament (and wins over Takanoshō, Sadanoumi and Atamifuji) were enough for me to give him a friendly grade despite the losing record.

Kayo is a very defensive wrestler. He’s similar to Ōshōma in that he’s always looking to slap and drag an opponent down while circling away or backing off. I get a little tired when Ōshōma relies on just these tactics and I hate watching Tōhakuryū do the same thing in the lower divisions. However, this move set makes perfect sense for Little Big Peep (that’s Mrs. Sumo Stomp’s name for him).

Kayo has really short arms and poor shoulder mobility (due to his size/shape). That would make it very hard for him to back down opponents in straight up pushing/thrusting. It also makes it hard for him to grapple and reach around for his opponents’ belts. However, his T-Rex arms are perfectly suitable for being bent at the elbow and being used to hook around opponent’s shoulders and necks. When he gets a hook on foes, his superb weight can act like an anchor, dragging them down.

Kayo’s girth makes it hard for opposing grapplers, too. Rōga struggled to get his arms around him and before he could secure a grip, Kayo was able to shoot back and drag him off balance and push him out. Ōnokatsu, who might be one of the best yotsu-zumō specialists in this division right now, was the only person who was able to fully lock him down and force him out.

Kayo’s foot speed is really good, too (it has to be for his sumō to work). The best example of this was when he was able to dance around and frustrate Tokihayate, one of the faster guys in the division, and lock up an arm for an eventual throw. This was even more impressive given that Tokihayate is very good at doing these kinds of throws on the run.

I’m expecting Kayo to remain in makuuchi for July. And I hope that’s true. He’s an exciting prospect, at 25, and deserves to be thought of as more than just a meme.

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Shonannoumi

Rank: Maegashira 15 West
Record: 5-10
Grade: D

When you look at this result on paper, and see another double-digit loss make-koshi for Shonannoumi, you’re right to feel that the Big Slo’s time as a makuuchi wrestler have probably come to an end.

However, I think Shonannoumi put in a good effort this basho and really fought to overcome some of his worst tendencies. Those tendencies include his lack of effort, especially in attack, and sleepy demeanour. I thought he looked much more lively and feisty in this tournament than we’re used to seeing from him.

In a few bouts he…