Eddie Hall is flirting with the idea of becoming a professional sumo wrestler.
The 2017 World’s Strongest Man recently shared a video to his YouTube channel that showed him getting to grips with Japan’s national sport under the watchful eye of former British champion Steve Pateman.
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Hall learned the basics with current British champion Bangor, who amazed his sparring partner with how strong he was despite being 11.7 stone lighter, before the pair clashed during a tournament where competitors faces each other twice.
The 35-year-old took to the sport like a duck to water and found himself in the final against ‘Deep’ who was bigger than all the other competitors but still five stone lighter than Hall.
After two bouts, they were tied with one win apiece, but Hall got the last laugh as he managed to push ‘Deep’ out of the dohyo [ring] before expressing an interest in competing in the sport for real.
“I’m well happy. Above anything else, I’ve really enjoyed today, it’s been really enjoyable for me,” he said.
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“The other lads were just talking to me there. You’ve got the World Championships in October in Japan and they were itching for me to come have a go. What would I have to do to come along with you guys?”
Hall was told that he would need to win a qualifying bout, but due to his sheer size and strongman experience, Pateman is confident he could do that by training in sumo just once a week.
At the end of the video, Hall smirks as he considers testing himself against the very best sumo wrestlers in the world after just one training session.
“These are British champions at open[weight] and heavyweight,” he added.
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“To go up against these guys today and do what I’ve done, I’m very, very happy with myself.
“And very tempted. This World Championship in Tokyo, Japan, in October. I’m very, very tempted. Really tempted in fact.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Hall has tried a new sport.
Famously, he crossed over to boxing in March 2022 to settle his rivalry with his World’s Strongest Man rival Hafthor Bjornsson in a fight billed as the ‘Heaviest Boxing Match in History.’
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Hall was disappointed to lose but not disheartened as a spectacular number of people are believed to have tuned in to watch the fight between two novice boxers.
“Although I lost the fight, it has been a success in many ways,” Hall said in April 2022.
“I was speaking to the promoter and in the 48 hours, including and following the fight, 30 million people watched it in total.
“You have to think in terms of what we set out to do, we did it. The heaviest boxing match in history, we pulled it off.”