During the 1990s he was one of the most popular wrestlers in sumo due to his wide variety of techniques and great fighting spirit in battling opponents nearly twice his size.

[1] Mainoumi initially failed the Sumo Association's physical entrance exam, because he was too short to meet their height requirement, which at that time was 173 cm.

[2] To prevent any future hopefuls from having to go through this painful procedure, the Sumo Association changed its rules to allow special dispensation for amateur champions who do not meet the height requirements.

[6] Mainoumi also had a very unusual tachi-ai, and sometimes used the tactic of nekodamashi, of clapping of the hands in front of the opponent's face to distract him at the initial charge.

[7] Another tactic was the "Hasso tobi," or "eight-boat leap," which involved a sidestep at the tachi-ai that would see him leave the ground and reappear directly behind his opponent, as happened to Kitakachidoki in January 1992.

in which he argued that because of their rich lifestyle Japanese youth lacked the "hungry spirit" of Mongolian wrestlers who had come to dominate the top ranks.