Sumo debut and makuuchi promotion

Wakatakakage made his professional debut in March 2017, and because of his success in amateur sumo began as a sandanme tsukedashi entrant. He won the sandanme division championship in May 2017 with a perfect 7–0 record and also won the makushita division championship in January 2018 by the same score. He made his jūryō debut in May 2018, the second to do from Arashio stable after Sokokurai in 2010 and the first from Fukushima Prefecture since Sōtairyū in 2009. He rose slowly up the jūryō division, winning promotion to the top makuuchi division after a 9–6 record at jūryō 3 in September 2019. Despite a poor 2–6 start to that tournament he won his final seven matches (including wins over top division veterans such as Toyonoshima and Kaisei) to secure his promotion. He was the third sandanme tsukedashi entrant to reach the top division after Yutakayama and Asanoyama.

Wakatakakage won his first four bouts in his top division debut in November 2019, but dislocated a joint in his right foot after landing awkwardly during his fourth day win over Terutsuyoshi and had to withdraw from the rest of the tournament.^[6] Back in jūryō he put together two consecutive winning records of 9–6 and 10–5 upon his return from injury to earn promotion back the top division for the (subsequently cancelled) May 2020 tournament at his highest rank to date of maegashira 14. In July 2020 he completed his first full tournament in makuuchi, posting a respectable 10 wins. In September he was on the leaderboard for much of the tournament, although he picked up his fourth loss to Mitakeumi on Day 14^[7] and finished in a share of third place on 11–4.

Original tegata (handprint and signature ) of sumo wrestler Wakatakakage

On 31 December 2020 – 10 days before the start of the January 2021 basho - it was announced by the Sumo Association that Wakatakakage tested positive for COVID-19.^[8] The entire Arashio stable – along with the Miyagino, Tomozuna and Kokonoe stables – sat out the tournament.^[9] He returned in March and produced a 10–5 record, defeating two ōzeki and receiving the Technique Prize.^[10] He earned his second Technique Prize in May 2021 with a 9–6 record and was promoted to the san'yaku ranks for the first time as komusubi.^[11] He was the first from Arashio stable to reach the komusubi rank since its founding in 2002.^[12]

San'yaku

After consecutive winning records at the top maegashira rank in November 2021 and January 2022, Wakatakakage was promoted to a career-best rank of sekiwake for the March 2022 tournament.^[13] He followed up this sekiwake debut by winning his first makuuchi tournament after producing a 12-3 record and defeating co-leader Takayasu in a playoff, along with receiving his third Technique prize. This marked the first time in 86 years that a newly promoted sekiwake won the championship (after Futabayama in 1936), as well as the first time in 50 years that a wrestler from Fukushima Prefecture won the championship (after Tochiazuma in January 1972).^[14] Wakatakakage failed to defeat ōzeki Shōdai in the final regulation match (thus missing out on the Outstanding Performance Prize that he would have received with a 13–2 record),^[15] but was guaranteed at least a playoff as Takayasu had lost his own match to Abi earlier in the day.^[16]

Wakatakakage followed up his tournament win with a 9–6 record in the May 2022 tournament.^[17] Maintaining his sekiwake rank in July, Wakatakakage recovered from losing his first three matches in September to produce an 11–4 record.^[18] He received his fourth Technique Prize on the final day.^[19] He achieved an 8–7 record in the November tournament to close out the year.^[20]

Injury and relegation

In the January 2023 tournament Wakatakakage earned a 9–6 record.^[21] He withdrew towards the end of the March 2023 basho after injuring his right ACL and meniscus in his win over Kotonowaka on Day 13.^[22] The following month stablemaster Arashio (former maegashira Sōkokurai) announced that Wakatakakage would be sidelined for up to one year after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.^[1] After his operation, Wakatakage resumed training at the end of August 2023, notably facing sandanme stablemates.^[23] When withdrawing from the September tournament, his medical certificate with the Sumo Association indicated he would need "approximately one month of treatment and outpatient rehabilitation."^[24]

In preparation for the November 2023 tournament, Wakatakakage was demoted to the makushita division, where he was ranked sixth. No longer a sekitori, observers noted that he now wore the black mawashi of the lower-ranked wrestlers during his trainings.^[25] Noting his training sessions without knee braces, Sports Hochi speculated about a possible return to competition for the Kyushu tournament that same month,^[25] something that Wakatakakage's master, Arashio, had already hinted at at the beginning of October.^[26] Wakatakakage's return at the November tournament was confirmed when his name was listed among the makushita matches for the first day.^[27] He began his comeback with a defeat but bounced back to finish the tournament with a score of 5–2.^[28][29]