Eternal return — the concept that all events are destined to repeat themselves over and over for infinity — has been a recurrent theme in 21st-century American television.
From the constant refrain that “all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again” on "Battlestar Galactica" to the Schopenhauer-esque pessimism as voiced by "True Detective" character Rust Cohle in his famous “Time is a flat circle” speech, the idea of life being part of an infinite loop is a popular one in modern Hollywood.
Sumo’s flat circle may be physical rather than temporal, but recent turnover in Japan’s national sport has evoked feelings of a similar kind.