Opera Cup (2019) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to t ...

event produced by

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product a ...

(MLW), which took place on December 5, 2019 at the Melrose Ballroom in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The event was a set of television tapings for '' Fusion'' featuring the inaugural namesake Opera Cup

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was the final round of the Opera Cup tournament between Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr., which Smith won. In other prominent matches on the undercard, Myron Reed successfully defended the World Middleweight Championship against El Lindaman,

Jimmy Havoc James McAhren (born 19 March 1984) is a British former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Jimmy Havoc. He is known for his work with Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Major League ...

defeated

Mance Warner Mance Warner is an American professional wrestler currently performing for Major League Wrestling. He has previously competed in Combat Zone Wrestling where he is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion and with IWA Mid-South where he has held ...

in a Prince of Darkness match, Gino Medina defeated

Savio Vega Juan Rivera (born August 10, 1964) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is known for his work in the World Wrestling Council, where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Champion ...

in a New York City Street Fight and Contra Unit defeated Strong Hearts.

Production

Background

Opera House Cup was annually held as a professional wrestling tournament for nearly fifty years in various cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

until 1948, when

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...

won the tournament and it was discontinued. Hart kept the possession of the Opera Cup trophy since then. On July 21, 2019,

announced that it would be holding an event on December 5 at the Melrose Ballroom in

Queens, New York City Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

which would be a set of television tapings of MLW's television program '' Fusion''. On July 24, it was reported that Stu Hart's grandson and MLW wrestler

Teddy Hart Edward Ellsworth Annis (born February 2, 1980) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Teddy Hart. He currently wrestles on the independent circuit. He wrestled on a National scale for Major League Wrestling ...

would be donating an inherited "

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

heirloom" to MLW. 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.

Storylines

The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by MLW's writers. Storylines were played out on MLW's television program '' Fusion''. On November 13, MLW.com announced that the first match in the opening round of the Opera Cup would feature Brian Pillman Jr. against TJP, who would be making his return to MLW since 2004. The following day, it was announced that as per the decision of the

Hart family The Hart wrestling family, sometimes known as the Hart dynasty, is a mainly Canadian family with a significant history within professional wrestling. The patriarch of the family was wrestling legend Stu Hart (1915–2003). An amateur and profess ...

, The Dynasty members MJF and

Alexander Hammerstone Alex Rohde (born January 17, 1991), better known by his ring names Alexander Hammerstone or simply Hammerstone is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling, where he is the current MLW World Heavyweight ...

would be competing against each other in the opening round of the Opera Cup. On November 18, it was announced that the Hart family member Davey Boy Smith Jr. would be taking on

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the ...

in the third match of the Opera Cup tournament. However, Otani withdrew from the tournament and was replaced by

Low Ki Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestl ...

on December 4. On November 21, the final match in the opening round of the Opera Cup was announced pitting Timothy Thatcher against Dynasty member Richard Holliday. On November 18, MLW.com reported that Contra Unit was involved in an altercation with Japanese wrestlers during MLW's visit to Japan. The following day, Strong Hearts ( Cima, El Lindaman and Shigehiro Irie) issued a challenge to Contra Unit for a match, which was made official for Opera Cup, thus marking the MLW debut of Strong Hearts. At Saturday Night SuperFight,

defeated

and

Bestia 666 Leornardo Carrera Lizarraga (born May 14, 1989) is a Mexican '' luchador'' or professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bestia 666. He is currently working for various promotions across Mexico, while also performing in the United State ...

in a Stairway to Hell match but Havoc attacked Warner after the match. The feud between Warner and Havoc continued as the two competed in a

Falls Count Anywhere match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on the November 23 episode of ''Fusion'', which Warner won but Havoc stabbed a fork in Warner's head after the match. On November 25, MLW.com announced that Havoc and Warner would compete against each other in a Prince of Darkness match at Opera Cup. On November 26, it was announced that the recently debuted

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

King Mo would compete in a match at Opera Cup. On the special

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

episode of ''Fusion'' on November 28,

Tom Lawlor Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host. He is best known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Cha ...

turned on Ross Von Erich during his

MLW World Heavyweight Championship The MLW World Heavyweight Championship is a Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Major League Wrestling (MLW). It is the promotion's principal championship. The championship ...

match against

Jacob Fatu Jacob Fatu is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Major League Wrestling. He is a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and his reign is the longest in the title's history at 819 days. He also performs on the independe ...

by hitting Von Erich with the chair, allowing Fatu to win to retain the title. On December 2, MLW.com reported that Lawlor had demanded a match against a member of

Von Erich family The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member who has been in the wrestling business has used the ring name "Von Erich," after the family patriarch, Fri ...

, which was denied by Ross and Marshall Von Erich, speculating that a new member of the Von Erich family would be competing against Lawlor at the Opera Cup.

Results

Tournament brackets

References

External links

Opera Cup official website
MLW Opera Cup 2019 in professional wrestling Events in New York City Professional wrestling in New York City December 2019 events in the United States {{MLWPPV, Opera Cup