{"id":133425,"date":"2025-04-10T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=133425"},"modified":"2025-04-10T05:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T09:49:12","slug":"john-cena-and-ric-flair-comparing-their-16-world-title-reigns-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/04\/10\/john-cena-and-ric-flair-comparing-their-16-world-title-reigns-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"John Cena And Ric Flair: Comparing Their 16 World Title Reigns, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Heading into WrestleMania 41, John Cena and Ric Flair share the record for the most world championship reigns at 16 apiece. Following on from <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/03\/31\/john-cena-and-ric-flair-comparing-their-16-world-title-reigns-part-i\/\" target=\"_self\">part one of the comparison of their 16 reigns<\/a>, here is the sequel to that article, exploring reigns 9-16 for The Nature Boy and The Doctor of Thuganomics.<\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #9 \u2013 Randy Savage, Prime Time Wrestling<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>1st September 1992<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Having lost the title to Randy Savage at WrestleMania 8, Flair was intent on recapturing the WWE Championship from the Macho Man. Having injured Savage&#8217;s knee at SummerSlam in an attack assisted by Mr. Perfect, Flair was able to repeat history three days later.<\/p>\n<p>Much like he did to Dusty Rhodes six years prior, Flair&#8217;s figure-four leglock caused Savage to pass out. This would be his second and final reign as WWE Champion.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #9 \u2013 Batista, WrestleMania 26<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>28th March 2010<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Cena didn&#8217;t have to wait long to exact revenge upon Batista for his underhanded display at 2010&#8217;s Elimination Chamber. It would be a repeat success for Cena: winning the WWE title in the penultimate match of WrestleMania in successive years.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH \u2014 Batista vs. John Cena \u2014 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania XXVI\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fIgMCtwyDc4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #10 \u2013 Barry Windham, Beach Blast<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>18th July 1993<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Flair moved into double figures with a short-lived NWA title run. Defeating Barry Windham at Beach Blast, the title-winning match is more remembered for its major botch rather than being Flair&#8217;s landmark tenth title.<\/p>\n<p>Windham, trapped in the figure-four, reached for the bottom rope to break the hold. In doing so, Windham unintentionally pressed his shoulders to the mat, leading to a pinfall and victory for Flair.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #10 \u2013 The Miz and John Morrison, Extreme Rules<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>1st May 2011<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t to be three WrestleMania world title wins in a row for Cena. Losing to reigning champ The Miz, who took full advantage of an assist from The Rock, Cena set his sights on Extreme Rules for retribution.<\/p>\n<p>Pitted against The Miz and John Morrison, the steel cage triple threat was full of near-wins for each competitor. Often remembered for R-Truth&#8217;s interference, which cost rival Morrison a clear chance to win the title, Cena eventually prevailed with a top rope AA on The Miz to secure the pin.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Extreme Rules 2011 - John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EfoPDQlVwvA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #11 \u2013 Vader, Starrcade<\/h2>\n<p><strong><em>27th December 1993<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Flair&#8217;s 11th was a fortuitous one. The original plans for Starrcade would&#8217;ve seen Sid Vicious win the title from Vader. However, two months prior, Vicious was fired for his part in the infamous double stabbing with Arn Anderson.<\/p>\n<p>Anderson very nearly lost his life, with the brawl being broken up by 2 Cold Scorpio. Flair was happy to step in, but there was jeopardy for The Nature Boy. If he lost to Vader, he would have to retire.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, Flair was able to secure the win over Vader with a slick roll-up.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL EVENT: WCW Starrcade 1993 \u2013 Ric Flair risks career against Vader, Austin vs. Rhodes\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S4OTpHZLqvc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #11 \u2013 Rey Mysterio, Raw<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>25th July 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Cena&#8217;s infamous title loss to CM Punk at Money in the Bank, which led to Punk leaving the company with the title upon the expiry of his contract, left WWE in a bit of a pickle. As a result, WWE responded with a tournament to crown a new champion. Rey Mysterio emerged victorious, but his reign would be a short one.<\/p>\n<p>Cena challenged Mysterio to a title match the same night, defeating the newly-crowned champion. Punk interrupted the celebrations, claiming to be the true WWE Champion. This reignited their feud, leading to a unification match at SummerSlam &#8211; which Punk won.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Rey Mysterio vs. John Cena \u2013 WWE Title Match: Raw, July 25, 2011\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cr_3UrghQa0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #12 \u2013 Randy Savage, Starrcade<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>27th December 1995<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Two years to the day since his last title win, Flair would steal gold from Savage once again. After defeating Lex Luger and Sting in a triple threat #1 contender&#8217;s match, Flair challenged Savage for the title on the same night. Despite interference from Four Horsemen stable members Chris Benoit and Brian Pillman, Flair was able to overcome Savage with his own help from Arn Anderson.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #12 \u2013 Alberto Del Rio, Night of Champions<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>18th September 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Punk would get a taste of his own medicine after his SummerSlam victory against Cena, with Alberto Del Rio successfully cashing in his MITB briefcase to curtail Punk&#8217;s celebrations. Del Rio would lose the title to Cena at Night of Champions a month later before reclaiming it from him two weeks later at Hell in a Cell.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio: Night of Champions 2011\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6INpdMb8e40?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #13 \u2013 Randy Savage, SuperBrawl<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>11th February 1996<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Another memorable Flair\/Savage encounter, and not because of another title change. Going toe-to-toe in a steel cage, the match is best remembered for Miss Elizabeth&#8217;s betrayal of Savage. Throwing one of her shoes into the cage, Flair took advantage, attacking Savage with the foreign object to pick up the victory.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #13 \u2013 The Rock, WrestleMania<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>7th April 2013<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It was downhill for Cena after his first match with The Rock at WrestleMania 28. Cena made history in 2012 by becoming the first MITB holder to unsuccessfully cash in, capping off a woeful year for the 12-time world champion. But 2013 was a different story.<\/p>\n<p>Winning the Royal Rumble, Cena was able to guarantee a sequel to his titanic match with The Rock. His redemption went full circle, claiming his 13th title at WrestleMania 29.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH \u2014 The Rock vs. John Cena \u2014 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania 29\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AYn1Fw8vIYw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #14 \u2013 Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Uncensored<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>14th March 1999<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>A familiar scenario in many ways for Flair. A title match in a steel cage with his career, again, on the line. But Flair also had the extra carrot of becoming WCW President for life, should he defeat Hogan.<\/p>\n<p>In this steel cage first blood match, corruption ran riot in a chaotic encounter. Interference from Flair&#8217;s son, David, and Torrie Wilson threatened The Nature Boy&#8217;s chances, but he once again had Arn Anderson in his corner to assist.<\/p>\n<p>Despite bleeding first, referee Charles Robinson didn&#8217;t stop the match and didn&#8217;t count Hogan&#8217;s pinfalls. Flair controversially won with another figure-four pinfall.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Story of Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair | Uncensored 1999\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pmGoZVNVoC8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #14 \u2013 Alberto Del Rio, Hell in a Cell<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>27th October 2013<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>After losing his title at SummerSlam to Daniel Bryan, Cena was ruled out for two months with a triceps injury. Returning at Hell in a Cell, Cena challenged Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Having lost the WWE title to Del Rio at the same PLE two years prior, Cena prevailed, exacting revenge upon his rival.<\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #15 \u2013 Jeff Jarrett, Nitro<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>15th May 2000<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Flair&#8217;s penultimate world title was his first in the 21st century. Flair, who was dressed in his street clothes, made quick work of Jarrett.<\/p>\n<p>Catching him out with a rollup, Flair shocked the Nitro crowd to pick up his 15th world title. Although, he would be stripped of it just a week later by Vince Russo.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ric Flair defeats Jeff Jarrett to become a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion on Nitro (5\/15\/2000)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zczF41E6E_Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #15 \u2013 Money in the Bank<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>29th June 2014<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>With Daniel Bryan forced to vacate the title, the new champion would be crowned at the Money in the Bank PLE.<\/p>\n<p>Cena faced stiff competition in an eight-man ladder match for the title: Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt, Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Sheamus. Slugging away for 25 minutes, Cena finally surged up the ladder to claim his 15th world title.<\/p>\n<h2>Ric Flair #16 \u2013 Awarded the title by Kevin Nash<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>29th May 2000<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Three days after being stripped of the title, Kevin Nash won the vacant title on Thunder. However, Nash decided that it would be appropriate to return the title to Flair at Nitro the following Monday.<\/p>\n<p>However, Flair&#8217;s final world title reign would end similarly to the previous one. Later that night, Jarrett took the title back, with Russo interfering once more.<\/p>\n<h2>John Cena #16 \u2013 AJ Styles, Royal Rumble<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>27th January 2017<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>After failing to defeat Styles on two previous occasions, Cena overcame his rival in the trilogy capper at Royal Rumble. The match continues to be cited as one of the best of both superstars&#8217; careers.<\/p>\n<p>A rare occurrence in wrestling, Styles and Cena remained in the ring for the entire match, showcasing their talent through technical prowess alone. This is Cena&#8217;s final world title reign to date and the historic 16th reign that drew him level with Ric Flair.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - AJ Styles vs. John Cena - WWE Championship Match: Royal Rumble 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MLylfh3atzA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on John Cena, Ric Flair, WWE, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Netflix<\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The CW<\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tubi<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A&amp;E<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Speed<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heading into WrestleMania 41, John Cena and Ric Flair share the record for the most world championship reigns at 16 apiece. Following on from part one of the comparison of their 16 reigns, here is the sequel to that article, exploring reigns 9-16 for The Nature Boy and The Doctor of Thuganomics. Ric Flair #9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5450,"featured_media":133522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,3],"tags":[165,469,396,47],"class_list":["post-133425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-john-cena","tag-ric-flair","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wwe"],"modified_by":"Chinyere Okafor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5450"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133425"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133521,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133425\/revisions\/133521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}