Hiroshi Wajima

After graduating from Nihon University where he was twice the amateur sumo champion in 1968 and 1969,[1] he made his professional debut in January 1970 at the age of 22, joining Hanakago stable.[2] He was given makushita tsukedashi status, meaning he could begin in the third highest makushita division. He was undefeated in his first 14 matches and reached the jūryō division after just two tournaments.[2] He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1971.

After finishing as runner-up in the November 1971 and January 1972 tournaments he was promoted to sekiwake and took his first top division yūshō or championship in May 1972.[3] He was promoted to ōzeki shortly afterwards and after winning his second championship with a perfect 15–0 score in May 1973 he was promoted to yokozuna.[3] He won his first championship as a yokozuna in September, and in November 1973 he became the first wrestler ever to withdraw from a tournament while still managing to win it. He had split the webbing between his fingers in his Day 12 win over Takanohana, and lost the next day with his hand bandaged. As his only challengers on Day 13 had a fourth loss, he was able to sit out the last two days and still win the championship with a 12–2–1 record.[4]

Wajima won three championships in 1974 but then went into a slump, and did not take another title until March 1976.[3] In the late 1970s he was somewhat overshadowed by fellow yokozuna Kitanoumi, five years his junior. While Wajima had had a good personal record against him, holding a 19–10 advantage up to the end of 1977, Kitanoumi began to win their later encounters and overtook him in terms of championships won. Wajima's final record against him was 23-21.[2] He took his fourteenth and final championship in November 1980, and retired in March 1981.[3] At the time, he held the third highest number of top division yūshō in history, behind only Kitanoumi and Taihō.[5]

Wajima was an unconventional wrestler in many ways, and was looked on as a contrast to the strong and silent Kitanoumi.[2] He was the only man ever to reach yokozuna without adopting a traditional shikona, instead fighting under his own surname of Wajima throughout his entire career.[1] He was the first and to date only former collegiate competitor to be promoted to yokozuna.[1][6] He was nicknamed the "Sumo Genius" because of his college background. His other departures from sumo norms included having his hair permed before growing a topknot, staying in luxury hotels and driving a Lincoln Continental whilst on regional sumo tours (jungyō), and associating himself with outsiders such as the yakuza and going out on late-night drinking sessions.[7][2]

He was a great friend and rival of Takanohana, whom he had known since his university days. The two were promoted to ōzeki simultaneously in November 1972.[2]

To pay off his debts, Wajima turned to pro wrestling. Shohei Baba, owner of All Japan Pro Wrestling, convinced him to join his promotion and train at their dojo.[11] He debuted in 1986. Because of his status as a former yokozuna (the first since Kinichi Azumafuji to turn to pro wrestling), Wajima was pushed as a superstar, feuding with Stan Hansen over the PWF Heavyweight Championship. In the long run, however, accumulated injuries from his sumo years limited his potential as a professional wrestler, and he ended up retiring from the game altogether in 1988.[1] His last recorded match was held December 16, as he and The Great Kabuki defeated Jerry Blackwell and Phil Hickerson. His wrestling career helped him with his debts, and soon he was in good terms with the Sumo Association.[12]

After quitting as a wrestler Wajima coached the X-League American football team Gakusei-Engokai Rocbull and also worked with the Cuban national sumo team.[2] He was also Ishikawa Prefecture's tourist ambassador. In January 2009 he returned to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time since leaving the Sumo Association in 1985, and was a guest of NHK, commentating on the day's bouts with his close friend Demon Kogure.[13][14] The previous year, Wajima played the father in the short film Kona Nishite Fū (コナ・ニシテ・フウ), which Demon wrote and directed.[14]

In 2013, he was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer and underwent surgery that December, which led to him losing his voice. He attended the wedding reception of Toyohibiki in February 2016 (whose stablemaster Sakaigawa Oyakata was a fellow Nihon University alumnus) and reported that while he had difficulty speaking, he was able to remain physically active, going for a 50-minute walk every day.[15]

Wajima died at his home in Tokyo on 8 October 2018. He was 70 years old.[16]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of yokozuna

• Japanese Sumo Association Biography (English)(Japanese)
• complete biography and basho results (Japanese)