After a poor 3–12 showing in January 2007 Rohō was demoted from "komusubi". Back in the mid-"maegashira" ranks for March, he surprisingly failed to achieve a winning tournament, falling to his eighth defeat on the final day. Controversy continued to follow Rohō into the 2007 May tournament, where after a day one loss against Miyabiyama, Rohō claimed that he was not ready to start the bout and that it should have been declared a false start. However, neither the referee nor the judges intervened at the time and the result stood. In an interview after the match, Rohō questioned the referee's judgement. After criticism from the Sumo Association that such behaviour was not appropriate for a sumo wrestler, Rohō apologised. He ended the tournament with a solid 10–5 record. In July 2007, after winning his first three bouts, he injured his back and had to withdraw from the tournament. He remained in the middle "maegashira" ranks after that, and did not look like returning to "sanyaku". He had to withdraw from the May 2008 tournament after injuring his back once again, but he had already attained eight wins.