Oiyama Katsuzo

Oiyama Katsuzo - 大位山 勝蔵 (born March 5, 1945) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yamasaki, Hyogo. He made his debut in May 1960 and wrestled for Mihogaseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1968. His highest rank was maegashira 12 and he retired in May 1970.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating junior high school, Matsumoto joined Mihogaseki stable and made his professional debut in May 1960. He initially wrestled under the shikona "Mihonmatsu" (三保ノ松), however, after three tournaments he left sumo in November 1960 due to a personal family matter. Luckily his stablemaster did not submit his retirement papers and he was allowed to return to sumo in March 1962. Upon returning to sumo he changed his shikona to "Oiyama" (大位山). He was promoted to sandanme in September 1962 and makushita in September 1963. In September 1967, he produced a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 6 and was promoted to juryo in the following tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Oiyama made his juryo debut in November 1967 where he finished with a solid 9-6 record. However, he followed with two losing records and was on the verge of juryo demotion. Nevertheless, he bounced back with three consecutive 9-6 records and was promoted to makuuchi in November 1968.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He made his top division debut alongside future ozeki Takanohana. However, he lost his first seven matches and finished with a 4-11 record which resulted in a demotion back down to juryo. This proved to be his only tournament ranked in the top division. He remained in juryo for another year before announcing his retirement after the May 1970 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Professional Wrestling Career**

After retiring from sumo, Matsumoto went to work for a bar while training for a professional wrestling career at the IWE Dojo. He officially signed a contract with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) in June 1971 and made his debut in September 8, 1971, in a singles match against Seikichi Hongo which he lost. He wrestled mainly in the mid-card under the ring names, Katsuzo Matsumoto and Katsuzo Oiyama.

He retired temporarily in 1979 and opened up a chanko restaurant called "Chanko Oiyama" (ちゃんこ大位山). However, the restaurant shortly closed down and he went on to work at a fishing processing company. He returned to IWE in 1980 and established himself as an heel. He wrestled his last match in the Lou Thesz Cup on March 19, 1981. Five months later IWE became defunct.

## **Fighting Style**

Oiyama was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was yorikiri (force out), followed by oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 256-229-14/485 (55 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 4-11/15 (1 basho)
* **Juryo:** 109-116/225 (15 basho)
* **Makushita:** 90-71/161 (23 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 32-24/56 (8 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 9-5-7/14 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 12-2-7/14 (3 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Matsumoto Katsuzo (1960.05 - 1960.05)
* Mihonomatsu (1960.07 - 1962.01)
* Oiyama Katsuzo (1962.03 - 1970.05)

## **Gallery**

Oiyama poses with his kesho-mawashiOiyama after retirement as a professional wrestlerOiyama's tegata
## **Sources**

* Oiyama Katsuzo Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Oiyama Katsuzo Rikishi Information