Shimotori Norio
| Shimotori Norio | |
|---|---|
| 霜鳳 典雄 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Norio Shimotori March 18, 1978 Niigata, Japan |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 143 kg (315 lb; 22.5 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Tokitsukaze |
| Record | 449-427-51 |
| Debut | May 2000 |
| Highest rank | Komusubi (March 2004) |
| Retired | April 2011 |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (1) |
| Gold Stars | 1 (Musashimaru) |
| * Up to date as of Jan 2011. | |
Shimotori Norio (born March 18, 1978) is a former sumo wrestler from Arai, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur champion, he made his professional debut in 2000 and first reached the top division in 2002, although due to injuries he had trouble maintaining that position. He earned one special prize, for Fighting Spirit. His highest rank was komusubi. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing.
Shimotori competed in amateur sumo at Tokyo University of Agriculture. He was recruited by the Tokitsukaze stable and made his professional debut in May 2000, almost a year later than intended due to injuries from a traffic accident. Due to his amateur record he was given makushita tsukedashi status and began at the bottom of the third highest makushita division.
Shimotori reached sekitori status in May 2001 upon promotion to the second highest jūryō division, and he made steady progress, rising to jūryō 3 by January 2002, where a 12-3 score and a playoff for the yusho or championship with Takamisakari earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division for March 2002. In July 2002 in only his third top division tournament he earned a kinboshi or gold star for defeating Musashimaru in his first ever bout against a yokozuna, easily the best win of his career. He was also awarded the Fighting Spirit prize in this tournament. He was not able to follow up this promising performance however, and slipped back into the jūryō division briefly in 2003. In January 2004 he produced a strong 11-4 record from the maegashira 7 ranking (although fighting only his fellow maegashira) and was promoted all the way to komusubi for the March 2004 tournament. However he managed only a 6-9 score fighting all the top ranked wrestlers in his komusubi debut and never managed to return to the titled sanyaku ranks.
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