After high school, he received several offers from professional sumo stables, but decided to decline them and continued his amateur career at the collegiate level.

After losing his sekitori status, Hanaarashi remained in makushita for another year before announcing his abrupt retirement prior to the start of the November 1985 tournament.

[5] He participated in one of the longest matches in professional wrestling history, an 108-man battle royal at Tenka Sanbun no Kei: New Year's Eve Special, a cross-over event held between Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and Kaientai Dojo (K-Dojo) from December 31, 2009, competing against notable opponents such as the winner Jun Kasai, Danshoku Dino, Great Kojika, Taka Michinoku, Kenny Omega, Tajiri, Gota Ihashi and many others.

[9] One year later at the 2003 edition, Kotani teamed up with Abdullah Kobayashi, placing themselves in the Block B and scoring a total of five points after competing against ODD and Homicide, Ryuji Ito and Daisaku Shimoda, Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monster Mack) and Bancho Matsuzaki and Jaki Numazawa.

[9] Kotani participated in other events such as the 2000 Grand Prix Tournament where he fell short to Mike Samples in a first-round match.