 His 10–5 record in the following January 2012 tournament earned him promotion to the "makuuchi" top division.Ikioi was the first wrestler to have only one Chinese character in his ring name to enter the top division since Yokozuna Akebono twenty-two years before.He posted only posted a 5–10 record in his "makuuchi" debut in March and was immediately relegated back to "jūryō".