Natsu 2026 Recap

And it starts with an unpredictable yusho winner.

I didn't see anybody throwing this name out as a potential yusho favorite at the start of the tournament.

But we have Komusubi Wakatakakage taking home his second career yusho with a 12 and three record, and winning way too easily in the playoff match-

[laughs] Yeah

... against our jun yusho winner, Ozeki Kirishima, who had a mirror 12 and three record.

This is his third career jun yusho for Kirishima.

Uh, our special prizes, Shukansho Outstanding Performance Prize.

For this basho, nobody gets it, and that was very well earned by all 42 rikishi.

Um-

[laughs]

Oof.

The Ginoshó Technique Prize goes to Wakatakakage, picking up his seventh career Technique Prize.

Really?

The people who hand out the special prizes love Wakatakakage sumo, and it's his eighth prize overall.

So 87 and a half percent of all of his special prizes have been Technique Prizes.

And then-

Getting to eight in, in total is nuts, so like-

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm

... getting enough special prizes that they can be expressed in percentages is already kind of a feat.

[laughs]

Yeah.

And, and weirdly enough, I think the only other, uh, rikishi that I can think of that had seven Technique Prizes, I want to say, I think Myogiryu had seven Technique Prizes.

There's a name I haven't heard in a while.

I'll be honest, I would've guessed the same name, and I don't know why.