Entertainment
Grand Sumo Tournament comes to London for the second time outside Japan in the sport’s 1,500-year history
London — The world of professional sumo wrestling stepped outside of Japan for only the second time in its centuries-long history on Wednesday night, as fighters clashed on a specially constructed ring in the middle of London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The iconic venue in the British capital is hosting the Grand Sumo Tournament —the roughly 1,500-year-old sport’s most important competition — for the second time, drawing more than 44 professional wrestlers, or Rikishi, to compete in 100 bouts over five days. The only other time the tournament was held outside Japan was in 1991, when it also came to the Royal Albert Hall.
There are unique challenges in bringing sumo to London, as the contemporary national sport of Japan is rooted in two millennia of tradition, interwoven with the Shinto religion, and thus treated with the utmost respect and protection to ensure adherence to its rituals and norms.
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“One of the things that we’ve worked really hard at is to make sure that we have a good understanding of the cultural and religious significance that sumo has,” Matthew Todd, the Royal Albert Hall’s programming director, told CBS News.
He said attention to detail was “really critical to the authentic presentation that we’re able to make here.”
That meant shipping 11 tons of clay from Japan to construct the ring, or dohyo, in the center of the concert venue, where the wrestlers compete. Shipping containers were at sea for three months making the voyage. A big team of ring attendants (yobisdashi), also had to make the trip from Japan — alongside 11 interpreters to help them communicate with British workers.
Ryan Pierse / Getty Images 
The roof for the dohyo, now suspended from the Albert Hall ceiling, was built in Britain, but its design is taken straight from traditional Japanese Shinto shrines, which, according to Todd, “helps to show that this is a sacred area,” in which routines and holy ceremonies are conducted as part of the tournament.
It’s a vital step, he said, to ensure the Shinto gods are paid their due respects before the fights.
Sumo is deeply intertwined with Japanese culture and religion in ways that many Western sports fans may find difficult to comprehend. According to legend, it originated as a ritual to ask the gods for a bountiful harvest, but it transformed over almost 2,000 years into the sport it is today, drawing competitors still primarily from Japan, but also from around the world.
Many of the most recent champions have been from Mongolia, and this year’s tournament features two rishiki from Ukraine. While Americans have competed successfully in past tournaments, there are no U.S. rishiki competing in this year’s event in London.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/Getty 
The nuance of the wrestling competition itself can also be difficult to fully grasp, with 82 winning techniques called kimirate, numerous ranks and divisions and a host of other rules. So to help translate all this for a largely Western audience, in-ear English language commentary is provided at the Royal Albert Hall, alongside video replay screens to describe and explain the bouts, which can sometimes end in just seconds when a competitor is forced out of the ring.
The wrestlers themselves live an incredibly regimented life. They are forbidden from driving cars and, somewhat counterintuitively, eating breakfast, and are normally required to take a long nap after their hefty lunch, to help them pack on the pounds.
The average weight of a rikishi is about 330 pounds, but some tip the scales at 550.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/Getty 
They have been given some leave during their visit to the British capital to enjoy themselves, however — with organizers likely seeing the value in some degree of publicity.
During the lead-up to the tournament, social media platforms were full of photos and videos of the traditionally kimono-clad wrestlers sightseeing around London.
The Albert Hall will also be graced this week by the presence of two yokozuna, the highest ranking of all sumo wrestlers. The word yokozuna is generally translated as grand champion, but it translates literally to “horizontal rope,” in a reference to the special rope worn around their waists to display their rank.
Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty 
Once a rishiki is promoted to the rank of yokozuna, they keep it until retirement. In nearly 400 years of professional sumo, only 75 men have attained the vaunted grand champion status. The honor typically requires not only multiple consecutive championship wins, but approval by a dedicated council that judges rishiki on their wrestling skills, but also a range of other personal attributes.
The tournament is due to end on Sunday, when the wrestler with the most victories in the ring will be crowned this year’s champion.
The field is considered wide open this year, but many, especially back at home in Japan, will be hoping for 25-year-old Yokozuna Onasato, the country’s first grand champion in almost a decade, to emerge victorious.
Teyana Taylor is clearing the air about Leonardo DiCaprio’s animated Golden Globes moment that took over social media, revealing that the viral clip didn’t quite unfold the way fans initially thought.
The actress and singer addressed the buzz during her appearance on The Tonight Show on Wednesday, Jan. 14, where she continued celebrating her first-ever Golden Globe win.
The clip in question, shared on the ceremony’s official TikTok page, showed DiCaprio laughing and gesturing enthusiastically during the broadcast, leading many viewers to assume he was chatting with Taylor.
She admitted she initially thought the same.
“Okay, so look, yesterday, I thought I broke the Da Vinci Code, right?” Taylor told Jimmy Fallon, referencing her earlier comments that suggested they were bonding over KPop Demon Hunters during the show.
Taylor explained that her excitement stemmed from the fact that her daughters, Iman “Junie” Tayla Shumpert Jr., 10, and Rue Rose Shumpert, 5, are huge fans of the Netflix animated film, which won Best Motion Picture (Animated) and Best Original Song that night.
At first glance, she assumed DiCaprio was reacting to her.
“So when I first seen it, I didn’t watch the whole thing. So I was like, ‘Oh you’re talking about Kpop Demon Hunters, he’s talking about me,’” she said.
But after watching the full clip, and seeing fans attempt to lip-read the exchange, Taylor realised she needed answers.
She picked up the phone and called her longtime friend.
“I was like, ‘You can’t be talking to me, were you talking to me?’ Because I already told people you was talking to me,” she admitted.
According to Taylor, DiCaprio had apparently discussed KPop Demon Hunters more than once that night.
“So apparently he had two KPop Demon Hunter conversations that night, so KPop Demon Hunters was just in his mouth all night,” she joked.
The situation sparked some playful jealousy on Taylor’s part.
“Who else is you chewing your invisible gum with?” she teased, adding that DiCaprio didn’t even remember who he had been talking to at the table.
Despite the confusion, the moment only added to the buzz surrounding their film One Battle After Another, which picked up four Golden Globe wins, including Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Taylor’s award for her role as Perfidia Beverly Hills.
Both stars are now heading into the 2026 Actor Awards on March 1 with individual nominations, proving that even a misunderstood viral moment can end on a high note.
A$AP Rocky is opening up about the unexpected person who helped steer him toward a life-changing romance with Rihanna, his mother.
During a recent appearance on the Jan. 15 episode of Popcast, the rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, revealed that his mom, Renee Black, was the first to suggest he should date the global superstar long before their friendship turned romantic.
Looking back, A$AP shared that his mother was surprisingly direct about it.
“My mother used to say s–t like, ‘I know you like this girl that you with right now,’” he recalled, adding that she would then say, “‘But I want you with Riri.’”
At the time, he brushed it off, insisting they were just friends.
“‘Ma why you keep saying that? That girl don’t even want me like that. Like be cool, Ma. Like that’s just my friend. Chill,’” he remembered telling her.
But his mom didn’t back down. “‘I’m telling you, she real,’” A$AP said, before adding with a laugh, “And mothers know best.”
Their bond eventually evolved into a romantic relationship in late 2019, and since then, A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have built a family together.
The couple now share three children: RZA, 3, Riot, 2, and Rocki, who is just three months old.
For A$AP, the connection has always felt natural, even inevitable.
“It was just like we were on the same page,” he explained. “Born the same year. My dad is from her country. My family, when I go back, I get to see both sides of my family. It’s so many similarities, it’s just funny. We laugh about it a lot.”
Even before romance entered the picture, he admitted there was always something special there.
“She was always my boo, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “Like I always f–ked with her.”
Still, A$AP believes the timing mattered.
“I’m thankful that she was put in my life at that time,” he shared, explaining that neither of them was ready earlier.
Rihanna has echoed that sentiment, later saying the pandemic played a role in accelerating their relationship. “COVID sped up our relationship,” she told Interview Magazine in 2024. “There was no denying it… It just happened.”
In the end, it seems his mother saw the love story coming long before either of them did.
William’s wife Kate brought charm back to the royal family with her heartwarming gesture, receiving powerful titles after her latest royal engagement.
The Princess of Wales appears in the lioness spirit as she represented the modern monarchy with a reception at Windsor Castle for the England Women’s Rugby team, celebrating their World Cup win.
As the patron of the Rugby Football Union, Princess Kate led the way at her first solo royal engagement of 2026 with a celebratory reception.
She looked glam in a red pantsuit, seemingly sending a nod to the team’s Red Roses nickname.
Kensington Palce shared the stunning photo of Kate with the team on her and Prince William’s official Instagram page, which brought her England’s great title from fans.
The post garnered massive likes and hearts from fans, with some honouring the Princess with powerful titles.
One described the picture a “brunch of beautiful English roses,” calling Kate “beautiful princess.
“God bless them make England great.”
Another admired the future queen as “A perfect England Red rose in the middle.”
Kate previously wore the red ensemble, featuring an asymmetric jacket and wide-leg trousers, for the launch of her Shaping Us campaign in 2023.
While Kate was hosting the rugby team, her husband William had a solo engagement of his own on the same day in his role as patron of We Are Farming Minds, which works to support farmers’ mental health.
The heir to the British throne visited a farm in western England, where he took on tasks like pruning apple trees and feeding sheep.
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