He reached sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in January 1983 after two runner-up performances and 34 wins out of 45 in the three preceding tournaments.

[1] Wakashimazu was popular with the crowds and his lean and swarthy appearance led to him being nicknamed the "Black Panther",[1] His best year was in 1984, when he took two top division tournament championships in March and July, the second with a perfect 15–0 record, but he could manage only third place in the September 1984 tournament and missed out on promotion to the highest rank of yokozuna.

[1] He retired in July 1987 at the age of thirty, leaving the Futagoyama stable without anyone in the san'yaku ranks for the first time in over fifteen years.

In September 2010 he was demoted in the Sumo Association's hierarchy after he accepted lodgings in Osaka for the Haru tournament the previous March from a company president connected to gangsters.

[2][3] In addition, two of his wrestlers, Matsutani and the sandanme ranked Wakarikido, were suspended for two tournaments for illegal betting on baseball.

In October 2017 he was injured in a fall from his bicycle in Funabashi, Chiba, and underwent emergency surgery for a cerebral contusion.

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