Slymm's One-Offs: THE OPERA CUP

[Slymm]

While impatiently waiting for Legends VI to come into my life, I decided to run another random card. This time I decided to put a show together using Mark T's fantastic boots which are some of my favorite out there. Not going to type a bunch of in depth paragraphs just some quick results and maybe some notes.

LEGENDARY WRESTLING STARS
CAPITAL CENTRE - LANDOVER, MD
1. In the opener, hated traitor Sgt. Slaughter (w/General Adnan) easily defeated Tommy Angel, winning with the COBRA CLUTCH and clearly sending a message to any proud American in the locker room who has a problem with his new attitude.

2. Power & Glory and The Smoking Gunns fought to a Double DQ. Billy & Bart got the better of the fracas and sent both Roma & Hercules flying over the top rope with a pair of dropkicks.

3. TV Title: Greg Gagne put away champion Owen Hart with the GAGNE SLEEPER to win the title after Jim Neidhart's attempted interference backfired. When Hart came to he started poking the Anvil in the chest and blaming him for the loss. Neidhart could only keep his cool for so long before he lambasted Owen and left the ring alone.

4. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) flattened Spaceman Frank Hickey with the BANZAI DROP. Fuji got a few unnecessary cane shots in after the bell.

5. Razor Ramon scored an unpopular decision over the 1-2-3 Kid by DQ. Razor was having a tough time with the youngster and grew frustrated, grabbing a fans chair from ringside. Kid however alertly delivered a spin kick that sent the chair crashing back into the Bad Guy's face! The referee called for the bell as Razor lay on the concrete floor still holding the indented chair. The fans cheered the Kid who despite losing the match, won tonight's war.

6. Loser Leaves Town: Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious) cheated his way past Kerry Von Erich, winning with a roll up and a handful of tights to send Kerry packing. Garvin and Precious celebrated the cheap win at ringside while every Von Erich imaginable attempted to explain to the referee Garvin's dubious tactics. The decision stood however, leaving all the fans at the Capital Centre in disbelief and all the women in tears.

7. The debuting Adam Bomb (who looked eerily similar to Bryan Clark, Wrath and The Nightstalker) absolutely destroyed Sparkplug Bob Holly, nearly decapitating him with a running lariat in less than a minute.

8. Main Event: Roddy Piper (w/Cowboy Bob Orton) defeated Paul Orndorff after Orton got involved outside of the ring and clocked Mr. Wonderful with his cast. A smug Piper continued the humiliation of Orndorff after the match by repeatedly slapping him across his face while being held by the bodyguard. The fans pelted both Piper and Orton with trash and other debris before Orndorff broke free, erupting the crowd and sending the rulebreakers running for their lives.

With the exception of Greg Gagne winning the TV Title, it wasn't a great night as far as wins and losses go for the good guys. Still an enjoyable show to roll out and it's always fun for me to use guys I normally wouldn't and boots that I hold in such high regard.

[Slymm]

Ran this tournament the night the set became available but haven't had a chance to post the results. I threw a couple non-T&T guys into a bonus match as a buffer between the Semifinals and Final. the best part about the whole thing was I actually remembered to use the referees in every match 😅
Note - The (#) following a wrestler's name represents the number of fatigue tokens (red indicates bleeding), while the info in [] following the finish represents the match rating and assigned official.

T&T HOF 2 TOURNAMENT
Philadelphia Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
Gary Michael Cappetta welcomed the fans to the Spectrum, and went over the rules of the T&T HOF 2 Tournament. 8 Hall of Famers, single elimination. First Round matches will have a 20 minute time limit, Semifinals are 30, and the finals will be one-fall to a finish. Your officials will be James Beard, Dick Woehrle and Joey Marella.

1. First Round: Bob Backlund [0] downed Thunderbolt Patterson [1] with an ATOMIC DROP in 5:03 [1.0 - Beard]

Gordon Solie conducted a post match interview at ringside with Backlund who put over Thunderbolt and said he's looking forward to tonight's competition. He said however he hasn't forgot about Stan Hansen and their upcoming Steel Cage match at Madison Square Garden!

2. First Round: Kurt Angle (3) defeated William Muldoon (9) with the ANKLE LOCK in 20:44 [4.25 - Woehrle]

Post match, Angle let down his straps before turning back and nodding at a bloody Muldoon in the ring.

3. First Round: John Pesek (1) beat Gorilla Monsoon (7) by disqualification in 13:06 [2.25 - Woehrle]

After Woehrle unceremoniously called for the bell, the fans actually started chanting "Go-ril-la, Go-ril-la!" as the feared Monsoon battered Pesek around ringside and all the way to the back.

4. First Round: Roddy Piper (1) put away Don Curtis (5) with the SLEEPER in 16:33 [2.5 - Marella]

intermission - Return date? Who the hell knows?!

Angle cut a promo before the next match, this time disparaging the City of Brotherly Love (which isn't hard to do). "Oh it's true it's damn true"… Jack Brisco took special interest in this match and was spotted sitting at ringside.

5. Semifinal: Kurt Angle (2) pinned Bob Backlund (8) after an overhead belly to belly in 30:47 [3.25 - Marella]

In the back, Thunderbolt Patterson was approached by Adrian Adonis who told him he shouldn't have even been in the tournament. The towering Patterson stepped to Adonis and looked down on when he was suddenly attacked by the Magnificent Muraco. The two beat on Patterson while yelling at him to "stay out" (Whatever that meant). They ended the assault by delivering a spike piledriver on the concrete floor. Officials and other wrestlers rushed the scene to tend to the badly injured Patterson. Note - Patterson Injured 21 cards, so about 10.5 years my real playing time lol

6. Semifinal: Roddy Piper (2) beat John Pesek (5) with the SLEEPER in 20:19 [3.0 - Woehrle]

Buff Bagwell came out and cut an arrogant promo which brought out Curt Hennig. While the two went back and forth over who , Johnny B. Badd came out and said HE was the baddest! Bagwell and Hennig said he was outnumbered, until Vampiro's music hit to even the sides for this impromptu XWF tag team match. (Note: XWF was a VERY short lived promotion that taped here at Universal Studios, and this was one of the random tag matches I remember from the tapings and wanted to replay).

7. XWF Tag Team Challenge: Curt Hennig (2) & Buff Bagwell (1) defeated Vampiro (2) & Johnny B. Badd (3) when Hennig pinned Badd with a rolling neck snap in 11:33 [2.5 - Marella]

Post match, Hennig & Bagwell were super proud of themselves as they left ringside while Vampiro checked on Badd in the ring after accidentally striking him which led to the finish. Badd wasn't happy with the miscommunication as he checked to make sure his face wasn't blemished.

Prior to the main event, Teddy Long brought a huge trophy to the ring and showed it off to the fans. Gary Michael Cappetta followed with extended ring introductions for the tournament finals. "This is the finals of the T&T 2 Tournament. One-Fall to a finish, Dick Woehrle is your referee!"

8. Final: Kurt Angle (1) upended Roddy Piper (4) after an OLYMPIC SLAM in 20:03 [2.0 - Woehrle]

After the match, Angle was presented the T&T HOf 2 trophy by Long and was then interviewed by Gordon Solie. Angle boasted about beating 3 Hall of Famers in one night, before saying if Jack Brisco was still here, he'd beat him too. Well, Brisco WAS still in the building and headed down to the ring and congratulated Angle, saying without a doubt it was an impressive performance. Brisco told Angle he heard his challenge and that if he wanted to go right now, his wrestling gear was in the back. As the fans cheered, Angle said, "whoa whoa! I just wrestled three 20+ minute matches with a broken freakin' neck! I didn't mean TONIGHT!" Brisco smiled and calmly asked "Kurt, it's been 25 years, is that thing ever going to heal?". After calling Angle an Olympic gold medalist, a multi-time World Champion, and one of the most gifted wrestlers to ever step inside the squared circle, he added "all you need is to grow a pair of balls". Brisco left the ring to an incensed Angle whose music then hit. He clutched his trophy, climbed the turnbuckle and jawed at the fans who chanted "you suck, you suck" as the show came to a close.

[TTX]

Nice little tournament. So far Backlund has been my best but nice to see Angle win.

[Slymm]

For funsies, I ran a three night event featuring a 24-man tournament. I used the Vintage Charts which I thoroughly enjoyed, and only booked official wrestlers who debuted pre-1950 and have color cards. The exceptions to this being the GMC card I used for ring announcer Joe McHugh, and the amazing bootlegs courtesy of justme that I used for the Special Attraction 6-Man Tag match on Night 2 and opening bout on Night 3. I do have detailed match highlights but only included the quick results here. Thanks to @poisonedshadows for dubbing this "The Opera Cup".

*#* denotes accumulated fatigue tokens
(#) denotes match rating

Night 1 will include:
Eight First Round tournament matches plus in the main event, the Fabulous Moolah will defend her Women's Championship against #1 contender, Mildred Burke.

THE OPERA CUP
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Night 1
Ring Announcer Joe McHugh ran down the rules of the tournament. 24 Wrestlers will compete under single elimination rules. Matches can be won by pinfall, submission, count out or disqualification. First Round matches will have a 20:00 time limit, while the Second Round will have a 30:00 time limit. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will have 45:00 and 1 Hour time limits respectively. For the Finals, there will be no time limit and there must be a winner.

First Round
1. Gorgeous George *0* (w/Cherie Dupre) defeated Evan Lewis *5* with the SPINNING TOEHOLD at 8:22 (1.25)

2. Johnny Valentine *3* put away Henry Irslinger *1* with an ATOMIC SKULLCRUSHER at 10:29 (2.0)

3. Buddy Rogers *5* pinned Fritz Von Goering *0* following a jumping knee smash in 8:22 (1.75)

4. The Crusher *2* downed Rod Fenton *3* after an elbow drop at 11:13 (2.5)

5. Sputnik Monroe *1* beat Yukon Eric *3* by DQ in a wild match when Eric shoved the referee at 8:13 (1.5)

6. Frank Gotch *1* defeated Bull Curry *5* with the GOTCH TOEHOLD in 12:50 (2.25)

7. John Pesek *0* beat George Tragos *4* with a scissors & wristlock at 7:42 (1.25)

8. Lou Thesz *0* downed Yousuff Ishmaelo *3* with the GRECO-ROMAN BACKDROP in 5:45 (1.0)

Women’s Championship
9. Mildred Burke *0* forced champion Fabulous Moolah *4* to submit to the ALLIGATOR CLUTCH at 16:28 to become the new champion (2.0)


Promoter Note: George Hackenschmidt, Antonino Rocca, William Muldoon, Killer Kowalski, Don Leo Jonathan, Strangler Lewis, Jim Londos and Great Gama received First Round byes.

Coming up on Night 2
Eight Second Round matches plus a huge Special Attraction - a Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match featuring Verne Gagne, Whipper Watson & Bronko Nagurski taking on Dick Raines, Wladek Zbyszko & Buddy O’Brien.

[Slymm]

THE OPERA CUP
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Night 2
Ring announcer Joe McHugh welcomed the fans back to Night 2 of The Opera Cup before running down the evening's matches including the main event, the colossal Second Round clash between Lou Thesz and Great Gama!

Second Round
1. George Hackenschmidt *6* and Gorgeous George *6* (w/Cherie Dupri) wrestled to a 30:00 time limit draw (4.25)

2. Antonino Rocca *1* defeated Johnny Valentine *8* with crushing body scissors at 18:49 (3.0)

3. Buddy Rogers *4* made William Muldoon *7* submit to the FIGURE-FOUR GRAPEVINE in 21:01 (3.75)

4. Killer Kowalski *3* surprised The Crusher *4* with a dropkick and pinned him in 13:53 (3.25)

Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match
5. Verne Gagne *1*, Whipper Watson *0* & Bronko Nagurski *1* defeated Dick Raines *1*, Wladek Zbyszko *2* & Buddy O’Brien *2* 3-0. Order of elimination: Gagne beat O'Brien with a rolling crotch hold in 4:52; Gagne put Zbyszko away with the GAGNE SLEEPER at 5:50, Nagurski defeated Raines by DQ after the referee got fed up with Raines dirty tactics (0.75)

Post Match
After the ref called for the bell, O'Brien and Zbyszko came back out and smashed Gagne and Watson into the steel ringposts. Another man appeared with them (later identified as Dara Singh), and along with O'Brien, Zbyszko and Raines, beat down Nagurski in the ring with each using their finisher. A number of preliminary wrestlers stormed out to help only to get tossed to the side as well. Several officials ran out and were finally able to gain some semblance of control but not before the rogue team destroyed the ringside area on their way out. Nagurski was injured for 5 cards.

Second Round
6. Sputnik Monroe *3* downed Don Leo Jonathan *5* after a superplex and two running knee lifts in 16:15 (3.5)

7. Strangler Lewis *2* was declared the winner when Frank Gotch *8* passed out to the STRANGLER’S HEADLOCK in 20:57 (3.75)

8. Jim Londos *6* fought John Pesek *6* to a 30:00 time limit draw in a classic encounter (4.5)

9. Lou Thesz *3* defeated Great Gama *3* following a crowd-wowing 20 rotation airplane spin at 17:40 (2.75)


Promoter Note: Antonino Rocca and Lou Thesz will receive Quarterfinal byes due to the time limit draws which eliminated George Hackenschmidt, Gorgeous George, Jim Londos and John Pesek.

Coming up on Night 3
The conclusion of the tournament plus a World Tag Team Title Match where the Fabulous Kangaroos defend against the tandem of Ilio DiPaolo & Angelo Poffo. There will also be midgets in action and more.

[Slymm]

THE OPERA CUP
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Night 3
Prior to the opening bout, it was announced to the fans by ring announcer Joe McHugh that the Tournament Finals will now be contested under Best-of-Three Falls rules. There must be a winner!

Non-Tournament Match
1. Dara Singh *0* (w/Dick Raines) had little trouble with Steve Stanlee *3*, winning with the AEROPLANE SPIN in 3:47 (0.75)
Prior to the bell, Singh roughed up Stanlee outside of the ring. Raines handed Singh a chair to smash him with, but Verne Gagne and Whipper Watson rushed out and pounced on their enemies. Watson and Gagne gave Singh and Raines body slams on opposite sides of the ringside area before officials restored order and sent the fan favorites back to the dressing room as the fans cheered.

Quarterfinals
2. Killer Kowalski *1* pinned Buddy Rogers *4* with KOWALSKI CLAW at 12:52 (1.75)
Rogers appeared to have placed his foot on the bottom rope but Kowalski knocked it off after the three-count.

3. Strangler Lewis *3* beat Sputnik Monroe *5* with the STRANGLER'S HEADLOCK at 16:18 (3.75)

Non-Tournament Match
4. Sky Low Low *0* defeated Little Beaver *3* after a dropkick followed by a jumping stomp in 7:42 (1.0)

Quarterfinals
5. Antonino Rocca *4* downed Killer Kowalski *7* with an impressive ARGENTIAN BACKBREAKER in 25:14 (4.25)

6. Lou Thesz *4* defeated Strangler Lewis *6* after two GRECO-ROMAN BACKDROPS in 26:22 (4.0)

World Tag Team Championship
7. Champions, the Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello *0* & Roy Heffernan *0* w/Wild Red Berry) retained their titles over Ilio DiPaolo *3* & Angelo Poffo *3* when Roy Heffernan forced Poffo to submit to the STEPOVER TOEHOLD in 9:47 (1.50)

Finals - Best-of-Three Falls
8. Antonino Rocca *7* defeated Lou Thesz *9* 2 falls to 1 to win the tournament and claim the Opera Cup trophy (4.75)
First Fall: Rocca with a series of dropkicks in 24:53
Second Fall: Thesz with a GRECO-ROMAN BACKDROP in 29:02
Third Fall: Rocca with a handstand head scissor throw in 33:10.


Promoter Note: Enhancement talent Steve Stanlee was represented by the Mister X card.

Coming up next...
Who the hell knows?! Lol

Thanks for reading!

[TTX]

Quite the main event there. Enjoyed the six man tournament with names I'd love in the game officially.

[victoryroll84]

Hi Slymm!

I'm finally all caught up with your write-ups

First Angle beating Piper, Backlund and Maldoon freaking cool (loved the jawing with Briscoe at the end too!)

Sputnik was doing pretty good in the Opera Cup, but nice to see Rocca take the top prize in 2/3 Falls must have been fun.

Also Sky low low and Little Beaver very nice

I look forward to more fun man well done!

[Deleted]

I love tournaments...especially when they emanate from Rio De Janiero!

While I was pulling for Lou Thesz to win (after Buddy Rogers, who was the initial person I wanted to win, was eliminated), there's no shame in losing to Argentina Rocca in an epic match!

Your cards are always full of imagination, and your booking is always entertaining to watch unfold. I wish you would do more playing-and-posting; I really enjoy reading your results.

[Slymm]

Apr 18, 2022 21:56:07 GMT -5 @poisonedshadows said:

I love tournaments...especially when they emanate from Rio De Janiero!

While I was pulling for Lou Thesz to win (after Buddy Rogers, who was the initial person I wanted to win, was eliminated), there's no shame in losing to Argentina Rocca in an epic match!

Your cards are always full of imagination, and your booking is always entertaining to watch unfold. I wish you would do more playing-and-posting; I really enjoy reading your results.

Thanks homie I appreciate that. I've put aside ringside tickets for you and the Mrs. for every show I run from here on out (That is, if you aren't baking cookies and can make it) 🤣

I was pulling for Thesz too but Rocca either wouldn't cooperate or Thesz just didn't want the burden of carrying around that enormous trophy everywhere he went.

How about for every ten cards you post, I'll post one? Deal? 😉