Opera Cup (2024) is the ongoing fifth Opera Cup professional wrestling tournament produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW). The first round started at Battle Riot VI on June 1, 2024; the matches would air on tape delay as part of the "MLW Anniversary '24" special on June 22. The first round continued on July 12 at Blood & Thunder as well as the "Never Say Never" special which will air on August 10. The quarterfinals will be held on August 29 at Summer of the Beasts, while the next three rounds will be held at later dates.
| Opera Cup (2024) | |
|---|---|
| Venue | First Round: Center Stage (June 1) The Coliseum (July 12) Quarterfinals: Melrose Ballroom (August 29) Semifinals: TBA Finals: TBA |
| Location | First Round: Atlanta, Georgia (June 1) St. Petersburg, Florida (July 12) Quarterfinals: Queens, New York (August 29) Semifinals: TBA Finals: TBA |
| Start date | June 1, 2024 |
| End date | TBA |
| Competitors |
|
| Champion | |
| TBD | |
Production
editBackground
editThe Opera House Cup was annually held as a professional wrestling tournament for nearly fifty years in various cities in the United States until its discontinuation in 1948. Stu Hart won the final tournament and kept the possession of the Opera Cup trophy since then. On July 21, 2019, Major League Wrestling announced that it would be holding an event on December 5 at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York City, New York which would be a set of television tapings of MLW's television program Fusion.[1] On July 24, it was reported that Stu Hart's grandson and MLW wrestler Teddy Hart would be donating an inherited "family heirloom" to MLW.[2] On July 30, MLW.com announced that the family heirloom was Stu Hart's Opera Cup trophy and MLW would be bringing back the Opera Cup tournament on the December 5 supercard, naming it Opera Cup.[3]
At Battle Riot VI, the Opera Cup was announced to have sixteen participants this year, the most up to that point. The first round was later announced to start at the "MLW Anniversary '24" television special, which was taped the same day and aired on June 22.
Results
edit| No. | Results[4] | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davey Boy Smith Jr. (with Mister Saint Laurent) defeated Timothy Thatcher by pinfall | Singles match | 12:36 |
| 2 | Akira defeated Ikuro Kwon by pinfall | Singles match | 5:36 |
| No. | Results[5] | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlantis Jr. defeated Shigeo Okumura by pinfall | Singles match | 8:26 |
| 2 | Tom Lawlor (with Mister Saint Laurent) defeated Jake Crist by submission | Singles match | 6:35 |
| 3 | Kenta defeated Bobby Fish by pinfall | Singles match | 17:11 |
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Místico defeated Magnus by pinfall | Singles match | 14:02 |
| 2 | Bad Dude Tito (with Jesús Rodriguez) defeated Danny Jones by pinfall | Singles match | 6:24 |
| 3 | Alex Kane (with Faye Jackson) defeated Mr. Thomas by pinfall | Singles match | 5:51 |
| No. | Matches* | Stipulations | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenta vs. Akira | Singles match | ||
| 2 | TJP vs. Tom Lawlor (with Mister Saint Laurent) | Singles match | ||
| 3 | Atlantis Jr. vs. Místico | Singles match | ||
| 4 | Alex Kane vs. Bad Dude Tito | Singles match | ||
| ||||
Tournament brackets
edit| First round MLW Anniversary '24 (June 22) Blood & Thunder (July 12) Never Say Never (August 10) | Quarterfinals Summer of the Beasts (August 29) | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Kenta | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Bobby Fish | 17:11 | ||||||||||||||
| Kenta | |||||||||||||||
| Akira | |||||||||||||||
| Akira | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Ikuro Kwon | 5:36 | ||||||||||||||
| Timothy Thatcher | 12:36 | ||||||||||||||
| Davey Boy Smith Jr.1 | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| TJP | |||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | |||||||||||||||
| Tom Lawlor | TKO | ||||||||||||||
| Jake Crist | 6:35 | ||||||||||||||
| Místico | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Magnus | 14:02 | ||||||||||||||
| Místico | |||||||||||||||
| Atlantis Jr. | |||||||||||||||
| Shigeo Okumura | 8:26 | ||||||||||||||
| Atlantis Jr. | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Alex Kane | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Mr. Thomas | 5:51 | ||||||||||||||
| Alex Kane | |||||||||||||||
| Bad Dude Tito | |||||||||||||||
| Bad Dude Tito | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Danny Jones | 6:24 | ||||||||||||||
1 ^ Smith was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury, so as an alternate, TJP took his place.
References
edit- ^ "MLW SETS RETURN TO NYC LATER THIS YEAR". Major League Wrestling. July 21, 2019.
- ^ "TEDDY HART DONATES FAMILY HEIRLOOM TO MLW". Major League Wrestling. July 24, 2019.
- ^ "NYC TO HOST FIRST OPERA CUP IN OVER 70 YEARS". Major League Wrestling. July 30, 2019.
- ^ Dominic DeAngelo (June 23, 2024). "MLW Anniversary '24 Results: Opera Cup Begins, Bull Rope Match, Mistico In Action". WON / F4W. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (July 12, 2024). "MLW Blood & Thunder '24 Results (7/12): Matt Riddle vs. Sami Callihan, More". Wrestlezone.