Rising Phoenix World Championships

The IFBB Pro League Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix Women's Bodybuilding World Championships is a professional female bodybuilding competition, promoted by Wings of Strength and founded by Jake and Kristal Wood., ^{[7][8][9][10][11]} and sanctioned by the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB). It is considered to be the most prestigious IFBB Professional League all women's bodybuilding event in the world.^{[citation needed]} The show's inception came as a result of the elimination of the Ms. Olympia, being the pinnacle of women's bodybuilding from 2015 to 2019, while the Ms. Olympia contest was on hiatus. The first championship show took place in conjunction with the IFBB Texas Pro, the NPC Tim Gardner Texas Extravaganza, and the NPC National on August 22, 2015, at the Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, Texas.^[12]

Rising Phoenix World Championships
Status	Active[1]
Genre	IFBB Professional League professional female bodybuilding[1]
Frequency	Annually[2]
Venue	Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, Arizona, United States of America[2]
Coordinates	33.281176°N 111.973°W / 33.281176; -111.973[2]
Years active	9[3]
Inaugurated	22 August 2015[3]
Founder	Jake Wood Kristal Wood[4]
Most recent	2023 Rising Phoenix World Championships[2]
Previous event	2022 Rising Phoenix World Championships[5]
Next event	2024 Rising Phoenix World Championships[1]
Participants	15 Rising Phoenix World Championships invited IFBB Professional League professional female bodybuilders (mean; 2020 – present) 19 Rising Phoenix World Championships qualified IFBB Professional League professional female bodybuilders (mean; 2015 – 2019)[6][3]
Area	International[2]
Activity	Spectator sport[2]
Promoter	Alex Sacasa Wings of Strength
Organized by	Wings of Strength
Website	wingsofstrength.net

History

2015 – 2019

On March 8, 2015, Wings of Strength announced the creation of the Rising Phoenix World Championships. Regarded as the successor to the Ms. Olympia, Rising Phoenix World Championships adopted the point qualification system that the Ms. Olympia had.^[13][12]

At the 2015 Rising Phoenix World Championships, with Iris Kyle retired and Alina Popa not attending, Margie Martin, a dark horse contestant, managed to beat much more seasoned professional bodybuilders such as Helle Trevino, Debi Laszewski and Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia in order to win the Ms. Rising Phoenix title. At the 2016 Rising Phoenix World Championships, Margie would repeat her success and retain her title. At the 2017 Rising Phoenix World Championships, with Margie not defending her title, Helle would win the title. At the 2018 Rising Phoenix World Championships, Alina dethroned Helle and beat Margie to win the title. At the 2019 Rising Phoenix World Championships, with Alina retired, Helle would go on the beat Margie and again win the title.

2020 – present

In 2020, several changes were made to the Rising Phoenix World Championships. The 2020 Olympia Qualification System changed the qualification from the Olympia Qualification System to an application invitational contest and it became a Tier 1 Contest on the 2020 Olympia Qualification System. This changed the Rising Phoenix World Championships from being the equivalent of the Ms. Olympia to the equivalent of the Ms. International. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Rising Phoenix World Championships was moved from September 5, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona to December 5, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the 2020 Rising Phoenix World Championships, Andrea Shaw dethroned Helle Trevino. Andrea would go on to consecutively win the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Rising Phoenix World Championships. Starting during the 2023 Olympia Qualification System period, the tier point system was removed, with only Ms. Rising Phoenix qualifying for the 2023 Ms. Olympia.

Champions

Chronologically

Year	Ms. Rising Phoenix champions	Best Posing Routine champions	Most Muscular champions	Best Intro Video champions	Posedown music	Prize purse	Venue
2015	Margaret Martin	Margaret Martin			Macarena by Los del Río	$99,500 & $65,000 Jeep Wrangler + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring[14]	Grand Hyatt, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America (USA)
2016		Sheila Bleck			Tootsie Roll by Old School Players	$150,000 & $65,000 Jeep + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring	Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona (AZ), USA
2017	Helle Trevino		Aleesha Young	Silvia Matta		$128,000 & $65,000 Jeep Wrangler + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring[15]
2018	Alina Popa	Nicole Chartrand	Helle Trevino	LaDawn McDay		$123,000 & $100,000 Chevrolet Corvette + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring	Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, Chandler, AZ, USA
2019	Helle Trevino	Mona Poursaleh	Aleesha Young	Silvia Matta	Berzerk by Eminem	$115,900 & $100,000 Dodge Challenger Hellcat + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring
2020	Andrea Shaw	Andrea Shaw	Most muscular award absent	Best intro award absent		$115,900 & Chevrolet Camaro + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring	Talking Stick Resort, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
2021		Mona Poursaleh	Irene Andersen	LaDawn McDay	Bring Me to Life by Evanescence	$120,000 & American prize vehicle + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring
2022				Janeen Lankowski	Moonlight Sonata (Epic Trailer Version) by Hidden Citizens Diplomatico (Remix) by Jabato Get It On The Floor (feat. Swizz Beatz) by DMX Lacrimosa by Apashe	$120,500 & Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring	Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, Arizona, USA
2023		Rene Marven	Andrea Shaw	Best intro award removed	Bulls On Parade by Rage Against the Machine	$125,000 + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring[16]	Arizona Grand Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
2024	Angela Yeo				Pump It Up by Joe Budden	$116,000 + Trophies (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) + Custom championship ring	Gila River Resorts & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, AZ, USA

Number of wins

Rank	Champions	Years	Ms. Rising Phoenix champions wins	Best Posing Routine champions wins	Most Muscular champions wins	Best Intro Video champions wins
			1st	Andrea Shaw	2020 – 2024	4	1	2	0
2nd	Margaret Martin	2015 – 2016	2	0
	Helle Trevino	2017 & 2019	2	0	1
3rd	Alina Popa	2018	1		0
	Angela Yeo	2024		1
4th	Sheila Bleck	2016 – 2017	0	2
	Mona Poursaleh	2021 – 2022
	Aleesha Young	2017 & 2019		0	2
	Irene Andersen	2021 – 2022
	Silvia Matta	2017 & 2019			0	2
	LaDawn McDay	2018 & 2021
5th	Nicole Chartrand	2018		1		0
	Janeen Lankowski	2022		0		1
	Rene Marven	2023		1		0

Number of consecutive wins

Ranking	Champions	Years	Number of consecutive wins
			Overall	Best poser award	Most muscular award	Best intro video award
1st	Andrea Shaw	2020 – 2023	4	0	0	0
2nd	Margaret Martin	2015 – 2016	2
3rd	Sheila Bleck	2016 – 2017	0	2
	Mona Poursaleh	2021 – 2022
	Irene Andersen	2021 – 2022		0	2

Top three (Ms. Rising Phoenix)

Year	Ms. Rising Phoenix champions	Runner−up	3rd place
2015	Margaret Martin	Helle Trevino	Debi Laszewski
2016		Sheila Bleck	Alina Popa
2017	Helle Trevino		Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia
2018	Alina Popa	Margaret Martin	Sheila Bleck
2019	Helle Trevino		Irene Andersen
2020	Andrea Shaw	Helle Trevino	Monique Jones
2021			Mona Poursaleh
2022		MayLa Ash	Michaela Aycock
2023		Angela Yeo
2024	Angela Yeo	Andrea Shaw	Ashley Jones

Medals by nation (Ms. Rising Phoenix)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	9	10	7	26
2	Romania (ROU)	1	0	1	2
3	Canada (CAN)	0	0	1	1
	Sweden (SWE)	0	0	1	1
Totals (4 entries)		10	10	10	30

Top three (Best Posing Routine)

Year	Best Posing Routine champions	Runner−up	3rd place
2017	Sheila Bleck	Virginia Sanchez	Pauline Nelson
2018	Nicole Chartrand	Sheila Bleck
2019	Mona Poursaleh	Janeen Lankowski	Nicole Chartrand
2021			MayLa Ash
2022		MayLa Ash	Janeen Lankowski
2023	Rene Marven	Nicole Chartrand	Kristina Mendoza
2024	Angela Yeo	Selyka Givan	Ashley Jones

Medals by nation (Best Posing Routine)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	4	5	6	15
2	Canada (CAN)	4	1	1	6
3	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
Totals (3 entries)		8	7	7	22

Medals by nation (Most Muscular)

Rank	Nation	Most muscular award
1	United States (USA)	4
2	Sweden (SWE)	2

Top three (Best Intro Video)

Year	Best Intro Video champions	Runner−up	3rd place
2017	Silvia Matta	Nicole Chartrand	Teresa Ivancik
2018	LaDawn McDay	Virginia Sanchez	Alina Popa
2019	Silvia Matta	Aleesha Young	Nicole Chartrand
2021	LaDawn McDay	Janeen Lankowski	Nicole Chartrand
2022	Janeen Lankowski	Sheena Ohlig	MayLa Ash

Medals by nation (Best Intro Video)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	3	3	3	9
2	Italy (ITA)	2	0	0	2
3	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
4	Canada (CAN)	0	0	1	1
	Romania (ROU)	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		5	4	5	14

Other records

• Closest Ms. Rising Phoenix scores - 2017 Rising Phoenix World Championships with a margin of 0
• Heaviest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Andrea Shaw (175 lb (79 kg))
• Lightest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Helle Trevino (157 lb (71 kg))
• Ms. Rising Phoenix with highest number of perfect win scores - Andrea Shaw with four
• Ms. Rising Phoenix with largest biceps - Andrea Shaw (18 in (46 cm))
• Oldest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Helle Trevino (44 years old; 2019 Rising Phoenix World Championships)
  • Oldest Ms. Rising Phoenix best poser award - Sheila Bleck (42 years old; 2017 Rising Phoenix World Championships)
  • Oldest Ms. Rising Phoenix most muscular award - Irene Andersen (56 years old; 2022 Rising Phoenix World Championships)^[17]
  • Oldest Ms. Rising Phoenix best video intro award - Janeen Lankowski (48 years, 3 months and 29 days old; 2022 Rising Phoenix World Championships)^[18]
• Smallest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Angela Yeo (5 ft 2 in (1.57 m))
• Tallest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Alina Popa (5 ft 6 in (1.68 m))
• Youngest Ms. Rising Phoenix - Margaret Martin (36 years old; 2015 Rising Phoenix World Championships)
  • Youngest Ms. Rising Phoenix best poser award - Nicole Chartrand (33 years old; 2018 Rising Phoenix World Championships)^[17]
  • Youngest Ms. Rising Phoenix most muscular award - Aleesha Young (32 years old; 2017 Rising Phoenix World Championships)
  • Youngest Ms. Rising Phoenix best poser award - Silvia Matta (43 years old; 2017 Rising Phoenix World Championships)^[19]

Qualification

From 2015 to 2019, the Rising Phoenix World Championships was the de facto equivalent of the Ms. Olympia.^{[citation needed]} The qualification system was identical to the Olympia Qualification System, with the same ranking and points system, along with the top five Ms. Olympia contestants automatically qualifying for the 2015 Rising Phoenix World Championships. The top five Rising Phoenix World Championships automatically qualify for the 2016 to 2019 Rising Phoenix World Championships. From 2015 to 2019, the winner of the Ms. Rising Phoenix title would receive lifetime qualification for the Ms. Olympia, which is identical to winning the Ms. Olympia. After the 2019 announcement of the return of the Ms. Olympia, from 2020 to the present, the Rising Phoenix World Championships became the de facto equivalent of the Ms. International. The qualification system adopted is identical to the Ms. International, which is an application invitational system.^[20]

See also

• Ms. Olympia
• Ms. International