Grand Sumo Breakdown

SPOILERS THRU DAY 8 Way too much to pack in today so let's get right to it, all the way from the elephant in the room down to who might actually still be in the running. New theme music by FreeMusicBox

Hope everyone ate like a sumo wrestler over the holidays! Welcome back to a new year of sumo, let's get down to discussing the exciting potential at the top of the rankings and help Mak explore his inner hater. New theme music by FreeMusicBox

A new sumo year is upon us, and with it, the changing of the guard. Join the boys as a new start to the show is introduced in glorious fashion and see how they prognosticate on 2025. How many Yokozuna will there be? How many Ozeki? Do you agree with what the guys think will happen?

A belated look at the rankings going into the first pro sumo tournament of the new year.

Ryan, Jake, and Mak do their best to keep up with sumo news over the holidays. Fortunately for them, there kinda isn't a ton to cover.

As the year comes to a close, Ryan predicts what we'll see on the banzuke for the first tournament of 2025.

Can you believe another year as come and gone? Neither can we. Join us as we recount the biggest stories of the year. We also revisit our predictions they made at the beginning of the year and see who wound up with the most points. The winner gets the immense honor of introducing each of our episodes in 2025!

We asked, you voted, now the results are in! Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2024 Sumo Popularity poll. How did it all shake out? Join us as we review and discuss the results.

Ryan, Flyric, and Jake (and kinda Mak?) go over the final basho of 2024 and what it means for sumo going into the new year. Flyric has a near death experience with some wings, and Ryan graces us with another song from a listener.

*SPOILERS THRU DAY 8* It's turning out to be an excellent Kyushu basho. Join us to discuss the highlights so far and what to expect in week 2. Check out our video on youtube later today for a breakdown of Jake and Flyric's matches at this year's Midwest Open, and as always keep an eye on sumo411.com for more amateur events.

Ryan, Jake, and Mak soldier on without their spirit animal, as Flyric had to miss due to scheduling conflicts. Is there anything worth talking about other than our new Ozeki Onosato?! Well yes, of course, but he's gotta be the headline, right? If you enjoy our content, want a shout out on the show, or maybe you just want to talk sumo with some die-hard fans, consider signing up for our Patreon. If you'd like some GSB merch, check out our Redbubble Store

Ryan stays #1 despite a weird, shaky banzuke

Onosato is now an Ozeki! Unfortunately, that's just about the only sure thing on this banzuke...

Today Jake sits down with Honu Sumo's JJ Jones, the 2024 head coach for Team USA, to talk about how the Sumo World Championships went for our Americans. JJ's been a busy man this year, as he also hosted US Nationals just 4 months ago. Make sure to keep up with him and his team on YouTube at Maximum Effort Studios.

Join (most of) the crew for our first off-season news update! We plan to check in between each basho on the general goings-on in the world of professional sumo. Let us know if there are any other types of things you'd like to see us cover.

Make sure to take our 2024 Grand Sumo Popularity Poll! This is the 6th year in a row we're running it and we'll have a podcast to discuss the results before the next basho. For now though, join us to cover the spectacular Aki tournament and the ascension of the new chosen one!

***SPOILERS THRU DAY 8*** A Mak-less GSB soldiers on to cover what is turning out to be a pretty excellent basho so far

Gearing up for the September basho and there are storylines aplenty. We cover the turmoil at the top of the banzuke all the way down to the promising newcomers.

Etan Perez burst onto the sumo scene in 2023, winning the Texas State Championship in her very first year and representing America at the World Championships. Next up: she's headed to Europe with Team USA for Worlds '24. *Watch the Sumo World Championships with English commentary on the World of Sumo YouTube channel on September 7th and 8th*

It has finally happened. Ryan not only reclaims his Best Banzuke Guy status in the Guess the Banzuke rankings, but he also got 1st place in the whole dang contest. Certainly this won't go to his head.

With less than 2 weeks until the Sumo World Championships in Poland, we sit down with Mighty Eagle Sumo's Jay Scriven, the 2024 men's heavyweight national champ. *Watch the world championships on September 7th and 8th on the World of Sumo youtube channel*

This one makes sense until the end where a bomb goes off...

Today we check on the progress of the year-long predictions we made in January and see who is doing the least bad so far.

Join a short-handed GSB team as they flounder through the 2024 July tournament without their beloved bus driver.

***SPOILERS THRU DAY 8*** The standings after week 1 tell the whole story so far. Will we see the ending we expect or can someone step up to make it dramatic?

The 4th pro sumo tournament of the year is upon us. Will Onosato continue his ascent or can one of the veterans finally slow him down?

Ryan keeps Jake captive long enough to explain the 2 massive crimes committed by the makers of the Nagoya banzuke.

Ryan and Jake take a look at a banzuke with some wild gaps that need filling.

The US National Sumo Tournament took place June 1st in San Diego, hosted by Honu Sumo. Join us to talk about it with Raijin Sumo's Sensei Seth Adams and Honu's Mengkin Ragan! We talk about how Seth got into sumo and go through the results of the tournament.

The May tournament started out wild and the finale didn't disappoint. The guys break down this second consecutive historic basho. Check out this link to get an Onosato shirt from our friend SumoBola!

*SPOILERS THRU DAY 8* This basho is plagued by injuries, but we don't let that dampen our sumo hype! Mostly. Probably. Kinda.

Salt City Sumo's Goose and JJ join us to talk about their show and our recent meeting at the Rollertown Showdown in Dallas. Also featuring a special guest making his amateur sumo bonus episode debut: Iowa Sumo/GSB's very own Flyric!

After Takerufuji's historic win, the story this time seems to be a bit more pessimistic as the Ghost of Injuries Past comes to haunt the Natsu basho....

So where did Takerufuji land? And more importantly, was Ryan able to hang on to his Best Banzuke Guy trophy after a tough prediction?

Where the heck does Takerufuji deserve to be on the next banzuke? Ryan has a lot to say about it. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

So uh... this new kid's pretty good, huh? Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

SPOILERS THRU DAY 8 Topsy turvy Haru so far. Where can it go from here? Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

All eyes seem to be at the top of the banzuke for the March basho. We cover the favorites for the tournament as well as the big news from Miyagino stable. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Let's take a look at the banzuke for March and see if Ryan will remain #1 Banzuke Guy or if he'll have to fly to Japan to fight some fools. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Join us for our third annual GSB Hall of Fame bonus episode, where we induct some of our favorite moments, people, and stories that might not otherwise get their time to shine. As always, we also have the dreaded Hall of Shame for things that bum us out. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

"I don't like it, but I get it" is the motto of this next banzuke prediction episode. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

The Hatsu basho welcomed in the new year with some serious action. Plenty of stories from this basho to cover, so cozy up next to the fire with a nice hot cup of podcast. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Spoilers Thru Day 8 A crowded leaderboard and a pile of injuries. Join us to discuss. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Jake catches up with JJ Jones of Honu sumo ahead of the 2nd annual SoCal Open, coming up on February 24th in San Diego. We also talk about Honu's incredible experience at the 2023 World Championships and their next big adventure: 2024 US Nationals! Check out Honu Sumo on Instagram and Maximum Effort Studios on YouTube! Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

It wouldn't be GSB if we didn't make a competition out of it, so here's some of our big predictions we'll be keeping an eye on in the new year. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

First basho of the year and it looks to be an important one. Will Terunofuji keep going? Can Kirishima get the rope? Can the new generation stake their claim in the top division? Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Uh, woops. Looks like Jake forgot to upload this episode to the podcast apps when he put it on youtube. Regardless, he is joined by Kyle Ferriter, Sake & Sumo, and the Sumo Punx to take a look back at 2023 and dole out awards for some of the amateur wrestlers who made the biggest waves. If you're looking for spoilers, skip ahead to 2:34:30 for a recap of the winners. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Thank you to everyone in the online sumo community for spending another great year with us. Join us one last time in 2023 to cover the highlights of the year and go over our favorite bits of the year that was. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

This one went... ok. Ryan walks us through his thoughts on a banzuke that departed somewhat from recent convention even if only in just a couple key ways. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud

Ryan and Jake take a look at what the first banzuke of the year might look like, including a possible return to normalcy in the san'yaku ranks for the first time in a year and a half. Theme music by David Hall via SoundCloud