It seem to me that it is a "double edged sword" to have WON the championship 16 times, or 21 times, or 35 times. That would mean that the wrestler in question also LOST the championshiop 16 times, or 21 times, or 35 times.
It's much more of a feat to have held the championship once or twice, but for an extended period of time in each title reign. As much as I dislike Bruno Sammartino, I think his 8 and 3 year title reigns totaling 11 years as WWWF champ are much more impressive than Flair's 16, or 21, or whatever short title reigns that lasted until he got his ass kicked again.
Flair used to rant, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!" Well, apparently, the "man" got beat 16, or 21, or whatever times. Wooooo........!
It's much more of a feat to have held the championship once or twice, but for an extended period of time in each title reign. As much as I dislike Bruno Sammartino, I think his 8 and 3 year title reigns totaling 11 years as WWWF champ are much more impressive than Flair's 16, or 21, or whatever short title reigns that lasted until he got his ass kicked again.
I'm pretty sure if Vince called Flair tomorrow and said "look Ric, as of now, you're a two time world champion, mkay?", Flair would accept for 100 bucks.
Considering the eventual goal is for Cena to have 2 more title feuds; one with the ultimate goal being matching Flair's supposed 16 reigns, and one being Cena eclipsing Flair's 16 reigns, shut up.
We don't need 5 more Cena filler reigns to get him there.
Cena can have all of the title reigns that he wants, but he will never have as accomplished of a career as Flair. Flair won championships from different places. Cenas only accomplishment is overcoming the odds as a super babyface from 1 place. Of course the WWE will spin it to make it seem like Cena is the greatest champion ever but if people would do their research then they would realize that isn't the case.
5 of those reigns were before or at a time when there wasn't just one NWA title, even WCW considered Ric Flair a 16 time world champion. The thing is it doesn't matter about quantity and is always about quality in my opinion so John Cena and Randy Orton could have another 20 reigns each but outside of maybe a few reigns John Cena had and maybe one that Randy Orton had Ric Flair's reigns were a class above anything either man has had or will have, it's crazy to think that combining John Cena and Randy Orton's reigns together (27) is the same as all of the reigns Steve Austin (6) Shawn Michaels (4) Bret Hart (7) The Rock (10) had put together.
Some of those title reigns are not even recognized. Just like how technically the rockers are a one time WWF tag team champion but it was overturned later that night so it was stricken from the record books.
Doesn't matter if he breaks Flair's record. Unless Orton decides to leave or the WWE decides to never give him more than 2 reigns again, Orton will break Flair's record as well. There is no reason to get angry over it anyways. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Cena retires as a 20x time world champion.
To be fair (or unfair to Flair), neither NWA or WCW counted some of those reigns when they were still active/strong.
And when did the Missouri Heavyweight Championship become a World Title? It was a secondary title in Central States, secondary to the actual NWA World Title. So, if you're going to count that, you might as well count the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, which Flair obviously does, seeing as how he calls himself a 26 time World Champion.
It ain't just fans. It's NWA (where most of these wins occurred) that didn't recognize a lot of Flair's wins because they don't recognize the Jack Veneno, Carlos Colon, Harley Race '84 or Tatsumi Fujinami wins for whatever reason. So, in the first 3 examples, it's like Flair never lost the title
A lot of people (plenty of them post here) shit on Flair because of everything he did after '94 and how he just wouldn't leave. They'll only come to his defense because they don't like Cena.
Pretend Bryan was close to breaking his record, the entire thread would have a different tone.
So, the support from most, like anything else involving Cena, is out of spite and not genuine.
But, I like Flair a helluva lot better than Cena, simply for everything pre-'94.
Wasn't the WCW title buried way back in 2003 when Triple H referred to Booker's 5 reigns as a joke? WWE can stake claim to Cena already being at the top whenever they want by putting their propaganda machine at work.
I guess that I just look at this differently than most of the list members. I don't see this as a record to be proud of, or something to try to beat. How many times have I won the title and then had to put over someone else a month later???:argh:
Sorry, it just doesn't compute with me. Probably dementia on my part, but I just don't get it.:shrug
He even calls himself 16 time W.C. I think I trust Flair to know his own career.
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