I decided to split these promotion storylines in two: those making their debuts in makuuchi as one storyline, and this second one about Mitakeumi’s climb into the sanyaku as Komusubi. Last basho was excellent at Maegashira #5. His best bout was likely his win over Takayasu since Takayasu was also on a roll and got a special prize for wins over two yokozuna and two ozeki. But this time Mitakeumi’s going to get blasted again by yokozuna. I call this the YO-YO schedule because he’ll be fighting yokozunas and ozekis to start the tournament. Two tournaments ago he was M1 and lost his first 5 bouts. This time, he may face a hobbled Terunofuji in those first few days and that would likely be his best shot at a win in the first week. Even if he doesn’t win, he can scrap. I just hope he’s more competitive this time against the yokozunas. His fights against Hakuho and Harumafuji were blink-and-you-missed-it affairs.
No such luck for Mitakeumi, his first bout is Kakuryu. I know we all give Kakuryu a hard time, but when he is “on” he is a strong contender. It’s no easier on day two when he faces Kotoshogiku. I will be very interested to see how Mitakeumi does against Kotoshogiku’s hug-n-chug.