Chiyotaikai Ryūji was given his "shikona" (wrestler name) in honour of his stablemaster and joined professional sumo in November 1992 and became a "sekitori" in July 1995 upon entering the second highest "jūryō" division. He remained in "jūryō" for another two years, but after winning two "jūryō" championships in March and July 1997 he reached "makuuchi", the top division. In May 1998, Chiyotaikai was made "komusubi" and never left the "san'yaku" ranks after that. He won the prestigious Technique Prize three times that year. In January 1999, he won his first top division championship, defeating "yokozuna" Takanohana and Wakanohana on the last
The New Beginning in Osaka (2015) Meltzer wrote that most of the matches at The New Beginning in Osaka were "good", but that none were "off the charts", while also noting that the crowd felt cold in what is traditionally NJPW's hottest arena. According to Meltzer, the event showed that NJPW had begun suffering from a "feeling of sameness" following Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome. He gave the highest match rating of four out of five stars to the main event, though stating that the match did not have the spark that the previous two matches between Styles and Tanahashi had had. The New Beginning