Abi Masatora

At 30 years old, Abi Masatora has this physical status:

In his first tournament in July 2013 he achieved a 6–1 record, losing only to Ikeru (who himself was also in his debut and went on to win the jonokuchi championship). In the following tournament in September, in the jonidan division, he had a 7–0 record, and took the championship, beating Aokishin in a playoff. In the next tournament, which was his sandanme debut, he only achieved a 4–3 but following that in January 2014 he got another perfect record and took the sandanme division championship. Over the next year, he posted four winning tournaments out of six. He was promoted to the salaried ranks of jūryō for the March 2015 tournament along with Amakaze and Ishiura. On this promotion, he chose the shikona of Abi which was the idea of his coach the aforementioned former sekiwake Terao. Abi was pronounced the same as Shikoroyama coach's nickname. The characters used were chosen in the hope that Horikiri could be strong like the many armed Asura (of which the first character is the same as in Abi's first character) and "on fire" in the ring (the second character means "flaming").

Though he lasted four tournaments in the division, he only managed one winning tournament and was demoted back to makushita after the September 2015 tournament. He spent the next eight tournaments moving up and down the top third of the makushita division. In the March 2017 tournament at makushita 16 he got a 7–0 record and took the championship. He would follow this with a strong 5-2 in May, which would finally garner re-promotion to jūryō in July 2017, in which he achieved a winning tournament (8–7). In the next tournament in September at jūryō 11 he posted a 10–5 record and on the final day beat both Homarefuji and Kotoyūki in a playoff to take the championship. An 11–4 record at jūryō 5 in November would propel him to the top flight makuuchi division for the first time. In his debut in January 2018 at maegashira 14 he had a record of 10–5 and earned the Fighting Spirit Prize along with Ryūden. Another 10-5 for the March 2018 tournament saw him promoted to maegashira 2 for the May tournament, where he recorded only seven wins but earned his first kinboshi by defeating the yokozuna Hakuhō on day 6. He won his second kinboshi in consecutive tournaments in July 2018 with a victory over Kakuryū on Day 5. In May 2019 he won ten bouts and shared the Fighting Spirit prize with tournament winner Asanoyama and top division debutant Shimanoumi. Abi clinched the prize on the final day by defeating Tamawashi, and said he was inspired by Asanoyama, who is the same age. This performance earned him promotion to the san'yaku ranks for the first time at komusubi. He followed up with 8–7 and 9–6 records in the next two tournaments but did not get promoted to sekiwake as there were no openings at that rank (with it being filled by Mitakeumi and the demoted ōzeki Takakeishō in September and Tochinoshin in November).

He was reprimanded by the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) in November 2019 after he posted an image on Instagram of his friend and fellow wrestler Wakamotoharu tied up and gagged with tape as a prank. It was deemed inappropriate and Abi and Wakamotoharu apologized in person to JSA chairman Hakkaku and the board of directors for the incident. The JSA has advised wrestlers not to post on their individual social media in future, although accounts run by the stables are not affected. In the following November tournament in Kyushu he produced another 9–6 record from the rank of komusubi. He was ranked at komusubi on the January 2020 banzuke for the fourth tournament in a row; the first time this has happened since Kisenosato spent four straight tournaments at komusubi from July 2006 until January 2007. In February 2020 he was reprimanded again after he told reporters, unprompted, that he had slept through a workshop organized by the JSA to explain the changes to their social media policy that he had instigated.

He was withdrawn by his stablemaster partway through the July 2020 tournament after he admitted to twice visiting a hostess bar with a low-ranking wrestler from another stable, against the guidance on nonessential travel given by the JSA to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The JSA chairman, Hakkaku, called his actions "unpardonable." Abi submitted a retirement notice through his stablemaster on August 4, which was not immediately accepted. Later that week, the JSA suspended Abi for three tournaments and reduced his pay and that of his stablemaster while rejecting his resignation. It emerged that he had gone out several more times than the two occasions to which he had admitted. Despite having recently got married, he was told to move back into his stable and be under strict supervision. His retirement papers are being kept on file by the JSA and will be activated if there are any further transgressions.

Abi was next eligible to compete in the March 2021 tournament, where he was ranked at makushita 56. He won both the March and May tournaments with perfect 7-0 records, ensuring his return to sekitori for the July 2021 honbasho. In November 2021 he was promoted back to makuuchi. On Day 13 of the November tournament, having had only one loss, he defeated ōzeki Takakeishō to stand alone in second place on the leaderboard, just one win behind tournament leader Terunofuji. His hopes of winning the tournament were ended the following day when he was defeated by Terunofuji, and he also lost on the final day to Takanoshō. However his 12–3 record was still good enough for a share of second place, and he received his third career Fighting Spirit prize. Fighting from the higher rank of maegashira 6 in the subsequent January tournament, Abi once again remained in contention for the title until the final day and finished as runner-up when yokozuna Terunofuji was defeated by tournament champion sekiwake Mitakeumi. He received his third gold star for defeating a yokozuna by upsetting Terunofuji in their regulation bout on day 14 and was awarded his first shukun-shō special prize for Outstanding Performance.

For his consecutive runner-up performances, Abi jumped up in the rankings to a new career high at sumo's third-highest rank of sekiwake for the March 2022 tournament. It marked his return to san'yaku since being ranked at komusubi for four tournaments in 2019 and 2020. He held his sekiwake rank for the following tournament, but was defeated on the final day in May by Wakatakakage to fall to a 7–8 record.

A few weeks before the September 2022 tournament, Abi tested positive for COVID-19. The Sumo Association at the time had yet to determine whether or not Abi could participate in the basho. However, Abi announced his withdrawal on the eve of the tournament due to knee and ankle injuries. The injuries required surgery and about three weeks of rehabilitation.

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