Basho Simplified: A Sumo Discussion
May 9, 2026 · 1 hr 39 min · 27 segments
The salt is ready, the clay has been swept, and once again it’s time for the most dangerous part of any basho… two idiots with microphones pretending they understand momentum. This week we preview…
Um, but yeah, so going back to what we were saying, Kirishima is now a Sith Lord with the Empires Cup, and [laughs] he is, uh, by all accounts, arriving in strong form.
By contrast though, his fellow ozeki, Aoanishiki, who ended March with a losing record off the back of a failed yokozuna run, now Kadoban hurt his ankle in training and has pulled out of the May tournament at the moment completely.
We will see if he turns up.
Now, I have seen that people online have been very divided about this.
Um, some think he's doing the right thing, resting up, coming back stronger.
Some think he should attend and hopefully fluke his way to eight wins and avoid demotion.
But remembering that either way, a loss or withdrawal sees him demoted, and 10 wins in, uh, July would see him promoted to ozeki straight away.
Given his history, 10 wins when he's strong and firing all cylinders is basically a standard.
So his pullout is either by necessity, confidence in his own ability, or both.
Now, sources state, and by sources, I mean our Discord channel, apparently he couldn't even walk afterwards and needed support to get off the ring to backstage.
If it's that bad half a week before the basho, there's no way in hell he could fluke his way to eight winsI am in-inclined to agree.
I think that given that we know his ability and how quickly he rise through the ranks and just generically how good he is, I think that pulling out, taking the risk to drop to Sekiwake and get the 10 wins in the next tournament after resting for a couple of months is probably the best idea.
[chuckles]
Have you not got anything to add?
Should he just compete anyway? Should he turn up and essentially phone it in or fluke his way to eight wins if he starts halfway through? Personally, I would champion the maybe sit this one out, because when he's fit and firing, 10 wins is more than achievable for a wrestler of Ao Nishiki's ability.
Yeah.
Even though there is some evidence that he has been figured out, but he himself has said that he was not gonna change his style or his approach because that would be running away from who he is.
And even coming into the tournament before Wakamotoharu decided to take him out and injure his ankle, because it was, um, Wakamotoharu that he was training with-
Yeah
Um, but yeah, so going back to what we were saying, Kirishima is now a Sith Lord with the Empires Cup, and [laughs] he is, uh, by all accounts, arriving in strong form.
By contrast though, his fellow ozeki, Aoanishiki, who ended March with a losing record off the back of a failed yokozuna run, now Kadoban hurt his ankle in training and has pulled out of the May tournament at the moment completely.
We will see if he turns up.
Now, I have seen that people online have been very divided about this.
Um, some think he's doing the right thing, resting up, coming back stronger.
Some think he should attend and hopefully fluke his way to eight wins and avoid demotion.
But remembering that either way, a loss or withdrawal sees him demoted, and 10 wins in, uh, July would see him promoted to ozeki straight away.
Given his history, 10 wins when he's strong and firing all cylinders is basically a standard.
So his pullout is either by necessity, confidence in his own ability, or both.
Now, sources state, and by sources, I mean our Discord channel, apparently he couldn't even walk afterwards and needed support to get off the ring to backstage.
If it's that bad half a week before the basho, there's no way in hell he could fluke his way to eight winsI am in-inclined to agree.
I think that given that we know his ability and how quickly he rise through the ranks and just generically how good he is, I think that pulling out, taking the risk to drop to Sekiwake and get the 10 wins in the next tournament after resting for a couple of months is probably the best idea.
[chuckles]
Have you not got anything to add?
Should he just compete anyway? Should he turn up and essentially phone it in or fluke his way to eight wins if he starts halfway through? Personally, I would champion the maybe sit this one out, because when he's fit and firing, 10 wins is more than achievable for a wrestler of Ao Nishiki's ability.
Yeah.
Even though there is some evidence that he has been figured out, but he himself has said that he was not gonna change his style or his approach because that would be running away from who he is.
And even coming into the tournament before Wakamotoharu decided to take him out and injure his ankle, because it was, um, Wakamotoharu that he was training with-
Yeah
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.