Career
While at Nihon University he practiced judo. He made his professional sumo debut in September 1966 at the age of 18. Initially fighting under his own surname of Nishimori, he reached the second jūryō division in January 1970. He adopted the shikona of Hananishiki before switching to Kaiketsu in November 1970. He reached the top makuuchi division in September 1971. In March 1972 from the maegashira 7 ranking he was the tournament runner-up to Hasegawa, who defeated him in a playoff, and he was given special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. At the following tournament in May 1972 he made his san'yaku debut at komusubi rank. After scoring 11 wins there and finishing as runner-up to Wajima he was promoted to sekiwake. He was also a runner-up in January 1973.
In September 1974 Kaiketsu turned in a losing score of 7-8 at sekiwake rank but then took his first top division yūshō or championship in November as a komusubi. He scored twelve wins against three losses, and defeated Kitanoumi in a playoff. He followed this up with an 11-4 score in January 1975. His combined total of wins over the last three tournaments was 31, below the normal standard for ōzeki promotion of 33, but there was only one ōzeki at the time, Takanohana, so the Sumo Association decided to promote Kaiketsu.
After suffering from hepatitus and lower back pain, Kaiketsu was demoted from ōzeki less than a year after reaching the rank following two consecutive make-koshi or losing scores. However, in September 1976 ranked at maegashira 4, he took his second tournament championship with a 14-1 record, followed by consecutive 11-4 scores at sekiwake in November 1976 and January 1977. He was promoted to ōzeki once again, alongside Wakamisugi, to whom he had a superior three tournament record. However, he held the rank for only four more tournaments, and soon fell back to the maegashira ranks. He retired in January 1979, having not missed a single bout in his 12 year career. He once said, "Being absent from a tournament means deliberately abandoning a bout." In addition to his two yūshō he had accumulated ten special prizes (including seven for Fighting Spirit) and three kinboshi.
Read more about this topic: Kaiketsu Masateru
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