Hidetora Hanada

, born October 30, 2001) is a Japanese gridiron football player and former amateur sumo wrestler. He played college football for the Colorado State Rams.

Early life Hanada was born in Wakayama Prefecture. Influenced by his father, who participated in amateur sumo tournaments at national level, and his mother, a judo instructor. He experienced a variety of martial arts since his childhood, however, choosing sumo because it is impossible to have a draw and because of its simplicity. Hanada won the local sumo when he was in the second grade of elementary school.

Before entering junior high school, he was advised to specialize in order to comply with sports club registration requirements, and Hanada chose to pursue sumo activities. At that time, he had already attracted the interest of several professional stables but decided to continue his studies at university level.

During his high school years, he also fought against future Kitanowaka and Yoshinofuji, the latter defeating him in the final of the All-Japan Junior High School Championships and in the semifinals of the Inter-High School Championships. During the Inter-High Championship in his freshman year, he was defeated in the quarterfinals by Sugarragchaagiin Byambasuren, and in his sophomore year, he was also eliminated from the competition at the same level by .

After graduating from high school, he went to Nippon Sport Science University (NSSU), where he also won seven national championships. qualifying for status, prevailing in a competition that included amateur stars such as his NSSU classmate Pürevsürengiin Delgerbayar. With this win, Hanada became the first wrestler from his university to win the amateur title in eight years and became the second amateur as a freshman in 36 years since Hisashi Keita in 1984. In 2021, Hanada qualified for the final of the same championship, but was defeated by Keita Kawazoe. At the 2022 World Games, he won the heavyweight final as a first-year senior at university, defeating his classmate Daiki Nakamura, who later became professional sumo's 75th .

For all his achievements during his amateur career, Hanada earned the nickname . After careful consideration, he gained the support of (former CEO of ), who accompanied him to participate in tryouts.

Initially, Hanada was hoping to become a in sumo and then try to join the NFL, but in September 2022, he announced that he would focus on American football first, stating that he wanted to challenge himself to see how much he could do when he was young and in his prime. The announcement came as a shock to the sumo world, as Hanada had earned a respected status after challenging Daiki Nakamura's supremacy on the amateur scene. In February of the same year, he participated in the CFL combine held in Japan. In March, Hanada was selected along with three other Japanese players to participate in the Canadian CFL Combine in Edmonton, being selected before becoming eligible due to student status.

In July 2023, it was decided that he took a leave of absence from NSSU and transferred to Colorado State University, playing as a defensive lineman for the Rams football team and becoming the program's only Japanese player. Hanada capitalized on the growing interest he generated at the CFL Combine, turning down offers from American college powerhouses such as Texas and Ohio State. While waiting for the eight-week trial period, Hanada devoted himself to physical training and activities as a trainee coach, declaring that "If I don't succeed, this challenge is over".

In February 2025, Hanada received an offer from the WWE NIL program. In December 2025, Hanada graduated from Colorado State with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary liberal arts.

A year later, at the age of 25, the question of his professional future arose again. Having always held out hope that he would become a professional sumo wrestler, Hanada raised questions in the press because professional sumo recruits have until the age of 25 to enlist, which marked a deadline for the 2026 September tournament. At the same time, Hanada announced that he wanted to try his luck one last time in the NFL and was seriously exploring the idea of becoming a professional wrestler within WWE, without ruling out the option of going into the business world.

Although Hanada has a similar name and background to Masaru Hanada, a professional sumo wrestler who competed as Wakanohana Masaru and has experience in American football, he is not related to him.