Shimotori reached "sekitori" status in May 2001 upon promotion to the second highest "jūryō" division, and he made steady progress, rising to "jūryō" 3 by January 2002, where a 12-3 score and a playoff for the "yusho" or championship with Takamisakari earned him promotion to the top "makuuchi" division for March 2002. In July 2002 in only his third top division tournament he earned a "kinboshi" or gold star for defeating Musashimaru in his first ever bout against a "yokozuna", easily the best win of his career. He was also awarded the Fighting Spirit prize in this tournament. He was not able to follow up this promising performance however, and slipped back into the "jūryō" division briefly in 2003. In January 2004 he produced a strong 11-4 record from the "maegashira" 7 ranking (although fighting only his fellow "maegashira") and was promoted all the way to "komusubi" for the March 2004 tournament. However he managed only a 6-9 score fighting all the top ranked wrestlers in his "komusubi" debut and never managed to return to the titled "sanyaku" ranks.