He was later head coach of Hanakago stable, but after several controversies, Wajima was forced to leave the sumo world and turned to professional wrestling.

After graduating from Nihon University where he was twice the amateur sumo champion in 1968 and 1969,[1] he made his professional debut in January 1970 at the age of 22, joining Hanakago stable.

[citation needed] After finishing as runner-up in the November 1971 and January 1972 tournaments he was promoted to sekiwake and took his first top division yūshō or championship in May 1972.

While Wajima had had a good personal record against him, holding a 19–10 advantage up to the end of 1977, Kitanoumi began to win their later encounters and overtook him in terms of championships won.

Because of his status as a former yokozuna (the first since Kinichi Azumafuji to turn to pro wrestling), Wajima was pushed as a superstar, feuding with Stan Hansen over the PWF Heavyweight Championship.

In the long run, however, accumulated injuries from his sumo years limited his potential as a professional wrestler, and he ended up retiring from the game altogether in 1988.

In January 2009 he returned to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for the first time since leaving the Sumo Association in 1985, and was a guest of NHK, commentating on the day's bouts with his close friend Demon Kogure.

[13][14] The previous year, Wajima played the father in the short film Kona Nishite Fū (コナ・ニシテ・フウ), which Demon wrote and directed.

He attended the wedding reception of Toyohibiki in February 2016 (whose stablemaster Sakaigawa Oyakata was a fellow Nihon University alumnus) and reported that while he had difficulty speaking, he was able to remain physically active, going for a 50-minute walk every day.

[16] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi