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 returned to the top division in March 2007, but his stay was short-lived as he was unable to compete at all in the May 2007 tournament due to a herniated disk suffered during training in April.

A recurrence of his injury in winning his opening bout forced him to withdraw from the rest of this tournament and sent him back in the jūryō division for another year.

Shimotori ensured himself of his seventh promotion to the top division with his 10-5 performance at the rank of jūryō 2 in January 2009, and came through with a winning record at Maegashira 14 in March.

He maintained his top division position until he turned in a poor 2-13 record at Maegashira 11 in January 2011, which would have seen him demoted to juryo had the March 2011 tournament not been cancelled.

Shimotori was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association, and he was forced to retire in April 2011.