The Ashes...

Welcome to the Preview Show for RPW. I am your host for the evening, Mike D. Stroia. I am also the commissioner and proprietor of Rising Phoenix Wrestling. Tonight, I will be breaking down our roster and discussing the different tournaments that we have set to determine our first RPW Champions.

First and foremost, our announcing team will be the dynamic duo of John Bradshaw Layfield and Joey Styles. From time to time, one of our talented wrestlers may help in the booth, but please believe that the commentary is in very capable hands when it comes to Layfield and Styles. Our backstage/in-ring interviewer is Lenny Leonard of ROH fame. He is new to the interviewer position, but we were so impressed with his ROH work that we decided to give him a shot. These three gentlemen are what great professional wrestling are all about. They have a dedication to the business that can be heard with every call that they make.

With all due respect to the announce team, let's get down to why you are really here. We will first announce the competitors for the RPW Tag Team Title Tournament. The RPW Tag Titles are unique, because it puts booking power in the hands of the champs. The Tag Champs are able to decide their match type. There is Phoenix/Classic style, which is standard tag. Tags are mandatory, with DQ and countouts. There is also a scramble option. Scrambles don't require tags, but there is only one legal man from each team in at a time. The rules are relaxed for this one, with no countouts and DQ only for egregious behavior. Tornado is no tags and no rules. Everyone and everything is legal. The Champs get to choose from these 3 options to give themselves an advantage. They can choose what suits them best or try to choose what their opponents would have the most difficult time with. Don't you just love the possibilities?!?

RPW Tag Title Tournament

Jay and Mark Briscoe v Kevin Steen/El Generico

Austin Aries/Roderick Strong v Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs/Tyler Black)

MotorCity MachineGuns (Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin) v Embassy (Miz/Rave) w/ Prince Nana

Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli) v Strong Style Thugs (Homicide/Low-Ki)

Another thing that sets RPW apart will be the Rising Phoenix Championship. This title is different from the RPW World Championship that we will discuss later. The Rising Phoenix Champion is the definition of a fighting champion. There is a 20 minute time-limit to his matches. He may win by pinfall, submission, countout, DQ, and knockout/ref stoppage. However, if he goes to the time limit, he will be stripped, and a match will be held to determine a new champion. In the Rising Phoenix division, you win or go home!

Rising Phoenix Championship Tournament

Davey Richards v Matt Hardy

Umaga v "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels

"Cowboy" James Storm v Paul Burchall

Tomko v Brent Albright

For the coup de grace, the RPW World Title. There are no time limits for RPW World Title Matches, and the matches have relaxed DQ rules and no count-outs. When you are RPW World Champion, you do what you have to do to maintain your title. With that said, in order to qualify for this tournament, you must be a former world champion.

The RPW World Title Tournament will feature 12 men--all former world champions. There were 4 byes handed out to the guys with most time/most occurrences as champion. The 4 Byes go to--Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Triple H, and Edge. Edge just (for lack of a better term) edges Undertaker in terms of time as champ to receive final bye.

RPW World Title Tournament

Undertaker v "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson

Samoa Joe v Nigel McGuinness

Randy Orton v "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles

CM Punk v Rob Van Dam

Ladies and gentlemen, this is only the beginning...the phoenix that is professional wrestling will rise in RPW!