Why WWE only recognises Ric Flair as a 16-time world champion as John Cena breaks record
John Cena has signed off his career by becoming the first wrestler to become a 17-time world champion – or so WWE claims. The 47-year-old entered the history books in his final WrestleMania by dethroning Cody Rhodes to win the Undisputed championship. Cena has become a 17-time WWE world championGetty The Hollywood superstar has already confirmed his impending retirement at the end of the year after two decades in the ring. He has now accomplished the last missing piece of his resume after beating Rhodes in the main-event of night two of ‘Mania 41. His now-former status as a 16-time champion was one he had shared with Hall of Famer Ric Flair – both pioneers of their respective eras. However, according to the latter, the two cannot be compared, at least not in terms of world championship wins. After returning to WWE in 2001 for his final run in the company, Flair was regularly billed as a 16-time champion as part of his character. But depending on who you ask, the 76-year-old is actually a 21-time titleholder and may have even won an additional five golds on top. What is Ric Flair’s title record? Flair is recognised as a 16-time world champion by WWE. Half of those reigns were accrued during his tenure in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) during the 1980s. He then became a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, with a further two stints as the main man upon his arrival in WWE. Ric Flair's 16 Recognised World Titles NWA World Heavyweight Championship House show vs. Dusty Rhodes – 17 September 1981 Starrcade 83′ vs. Harley Race – 24 November 1983 House show (Japan – Yokosuka) vs. Kerry Von Erich – 24 May 1984 House show vs. Dusty Rhodes – 9 August 1986 Starrcade 87′ vs. Ronnie Garvin – 26 November 1987 WrestleWar ’89 vs. Ricky Steamboat – 7 May 1989 House show vs. Sting – 11 January 1991 Beach Blast ’93 vs. Barry Windham – 18 July 1993 WWE Champion WWE Royal Rumble Winner – 19 January 1992 Prime Time Wrestling vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 1 September 1992 WCW World Heavyweight Championship Starrcade ’93: 10th Anniversary vs. Vader – 27 December 1993 Starrcade ’95 vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 27 December 1995 SuperBrawl VI vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 11 February 1996 Uncensored ’99 vs. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan – 14 March 1999 Monday Nitro vs. Jeff Jarrett – 15 May 2000 Monday Nitro (Awarded the title by Kevin Nash) – 29 May 2000 Flair, at one stage, seemed happy with WWE positioning Cena as the man to break his recordWWE/Instagram View Tweet: https://twitter.com/JohnCena?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Why do WWE ignore some title wins? Flair’s list of forgotten title wins is excluded from the record books because they weren’t televised, so WWE doesn’t count them. During the 1980s, Flair was undeniably one of two main stars credited with wrestling’s boom across America alongside Hulk Hogan. The pair were the main attractions of rival promotions, the NWA and WWE (then-WWF), and in some ways, the perfect foil for each other. While Naitch lacked the mainstream appeal of the Hulkster, he was more respected by his peers and hardcore fans for his superior skill. This was very befitting of the companies they worked for – Vince McMahon‘s plans for WWE’s expansion, which involved targeting the rise of national television in the US, directly contravened NWA’s strict region-based policies. NWA remained steadfast with the existing system, where each territory had their own wrestlers and promoters rather than one for all. Hogan and Flair are undoubtedly legends of the game NWA members then voted on one wrestler – usually Flair – to be the sole travelling world heavyweight champion. During these reigns, Flair would, on occasion, lose the title to a home crowd favourite before regaining it mere days later. Three such instances took place during his first recognised NWA title reign, which is listed as lasting from September 1981 to June 1983. Flair dropped the belt on non-televised events to Dominican Jack Veneno, Carlos Carlon in Puerto Rico, and Victor Jovica in Trinidad. As a result, these three aren’t counted by the official lineage. Only eight of Flair’s NWA title wins are recognised by WWEWWE The same proved to be the case for Flair’s second NWA reign, recognised in the books as lasting from November 1983 to May 1984. During this period, Flair dropped the title to Harley Race in New Zealand, then regained it in Singapore, which also isn’t credited. In 1991, Flair became the first-ever WCW World Heavyweight Champion and briefly held it alongside his existing NWA strap. However, he lost only the latter belt to Tatsumi Fujinami in Japan, before regaining it months later, although for whatever reason, this reign is also not recognised by WWE. Flair was stylin’ and profilin’ his way to the WWE titles 113 days after his WWE debutWWE
John Cena has signed off his career by becoming the first wrestler to become a 17-time world champion – or so WWE claims.
The 47-year-old entered the history books in his final WrestleMania by dethroning Cody Rhodes to win the Undisputed championship.
The Hollywood superstar has already confirmed his impending retirement at the end of the year after two decades in the ring.
He has now accomplished the last missing piece of his resume after beating Rhodes in the main-event of night two of ‘Mania 41.
His now-former status as a 16-time champion was one he had shared with Hall of Famer Ric Flair – both pioneers of their respective eras.
However, according to the latter, the two cannot be compared, at least not in terms of world championship wins.
After returning to WWE in 2001 for his final run in the company, Flair was regularly billed as a 16-time champion as part of his character.
But depending on who you ask, the 76-year-old is actually a 21-time titleholder and may have even won an additional five golds on top.
What is Ric Flair’s title record?
Flair is recognised as a 16-time world champion by WWE.
Half of those reigns were accrued during his tenure in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) during the 1980s.
He then became a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, with a further two stints as the main man upon his arrival in WWE.
Ric Flair's 16 Recognised World Titles
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
- House show vs. Dusty Rhodes – 17 September 1981
- Starrcade 83′ vs. Harley Race – 24 November 1983
- House show (Japan – Yokosuka) vs. Kerry Von Erich – 24 May 1984
- House show vs. Dusty Rhodes – 9 August 1986
- Starrcade 87′ vs. Ronnie Garvin – 26 November 1987
- WrestleWar ’89 vs. Ricky Steamboat – 7 May 1989
- House show vs. Sting – 11 January 1991
- Beach Blast ’93 vs. Barry Windham – 18 July 1993
WWE Champion
- WWE Royal Rumble Winner – 19 January 1992
- Prime Time Wrestling vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 1 September 1992
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
- Starrcade ’93: 10th Anniversary vs. Vader – 27 December 1993
- Starrcade ’95 vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 27 December 1995
- SuperBrawl VI vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – 11 February 1996
- Uncensored ’99 vs. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan – 14 March 1999
- Monday Nitro vs. Jeff Jarrett – 15 May 2000
- Monday Nitro (Awarded the title by Kevin Nash) – 29 May 2000
Why do WWE ignore some title wins?
Flair’s list of forgotten title wins is excluded from the record books because they weren’t televised, so WWE doesn’t count them.
During the 1980s, Flair was undeniably one of two main stars credited with wrestling’s boom across America alongside Hulk Hogan.
The pair were the main attractions of rival promotions, the NWA and WWE (then-WWF), and in some ways, the perfect foil for each other.
While Naitch lacked the mainstream appeal of the Hulkster, he was more respected by his peers and hardcore fans for his superior skill.
This was very befitting of the companies they worked for – Vince McMahon‘s plans for WWE’s expansion, which involved targeting the rise of national television in the US, directly contravened NWA’s strict region-based policies.
NWA remained steadfast with the existing system, where each territory had their own wrestlers and promoters rather than one for all.
NWA members then voted on one wrestler – usually Flair – to be the sole travelling world heavyweight champion.
During these reigns, Flair would, on occasion, lose the title to a home crowd favourite before regaining it mere days later.
Three such instances took place during his first recognised NWA title reign, which is listed as lasting from September 1981 to June 1983.
Flair dropped the belt on non-televised events to Dominican Jack Veneno, Carlos Carlon in Puerto Rico, and Victor Jovica in Trinidad.
As a result, these three aren’t counted by the official lineage.
The same proved to be the case for Flair’s second NWA reign, recognised in the books as lasting from November 1983 to May 1984.
During this period, Flair dropped the title to Harley Race in New Zealand, then regained it in Singapore, which also isn’t credited.
In 1991, Flair became the first-ever WCW World Heavyweight Champion and briefly held it alongside his existing NWA strap.
However, he lost only the latter belt to Tatsumi Fujinami in Japan, before regaining it months later, although for whatever reason, this reign is also not recognised by WWE.
Why do some consider him a 25-time champion?
Flair himself has publicly concurred with the view that he should have 21 recognised world title wins.
There are four other more contested championship reigns, which include his 1982 loss of the NWA strap to The Midnight Rider (a suspended Dusty Rhodes in disguise who instantly returned it after refusing to unmask).
The second was a bizarre double-pin finish with Ricky Steamboat in 1994, which culminated in a brief WCW title vacancy and rematch that Flair won.
The final two reigns were with WCW’s International World Title, which was, in essence, the NWA title without the name following the promotion’s withdrawal from the NWA in 1993.
All of John Cena’s world title runs
| Reign | Opponent | Event | Length of Reign | Date |
| 1. | John Cena vs. JBL | WrestleMania 21 | 280 days | April 3, 2005 |
| 2. | John Cena vs. Edge | Royal Rumble | 133 days | January 26, 2006 |
| 3. | John Cena vs. Edge | Unforgiven | 380 days | September 17, 2006 |
| 4. | John Cena vs. Chris Jericho | Survivor Series | 84 days | November 23, 2008 |
| 5. | John Cena vs. Big Show vs. Edge | WrestleMania 25 | 21 days | April 5, 2009 |
| 6. | John Cena vs. Randy Orton | Breaking Point | 21 days | September 3, 2009 |
| 7. | John Cena vs. Randy Orton | Bragging Rights | 49 days | October 25, 2009 |
| 8. | John Cena defeated Triple H, Sheamus (c), Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase Jr., and Randy Orton | Elimination Chamber | 3 minutes 33 seconds | February 21, 2010 |
| 9. | John Cena vs. Batista | WrestleMania 26 | 84 days | March 28, 2010 |
| 10. | John Cena vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison | Extreme Rules | 77 days | May 1, 2011 |
| 11. | John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio | Monday Night Raw | 20 days | July 25, 2011 |
| 12. | John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio | Night of Champions | 14 days | September 18, 2011 |
| 13. | John Cena vs. The Rock | WrestleMania 29 | 133 days | April 7, 2013 |
| 14. | John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio | Hell in a Cell | 49 days | October 27, 2013 |
| 15 | John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro (with Paul Heyman), Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Sheamus | Money in the Bank | 49 days | June 29, 2014 |
| 16. | John Cena vs. AJ Styles | Royal Rumble | 14 days | January 27, 2017 |
| 17. | John Cena vs Cody Rhodes | WrestleMania 41 | – | April 20, 2025 |
