 Its longstanding history was one of the reasons he chose that particular stable.Because of his amateur achievements he was given "makushita tsukedashi" status and so was allowed to leapfrog the lower divisions, beginning his career as a "makushita" (third division) wrestler at the rank of "makushita" 15.He was runner-up in his first tournament, only losing on a tie-break after a 6-1 result.