Bully Ray On John Cena & WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair's Claims To GOAT Title

Both John Cena and Ric Flair have held 16 world titles throughout their careers, which is commonly agreed upon as the record number of major world championship reigns by one person. Speaking on "Busted Open Radio," WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray gave some insight into how he views the respective careers of the two men as they stand tied.

"John Cena is the GOAT of the WWE. Ric Flair is the GOAT of all time," Bully said. "Within the world of WWE, John Cena is a 16-time world heavyweight champion, with Randy Orton creeping up on him. But when it comes to world heavyweight champions, period, somebody who defended their world heavyweight champions around the world in various federations, [or] various territories — it's Ric Flair."

Without taking anything away from Cena's success, Bully explained that Flair traveling to different promotions and countries to defend his title means he did something that Cena did not. However, it's safe to say that because of the periods they came up in, Flair and Cena had vastly different opportunities laid out ahead of them, making it difficult to compare their merit based on travel schedules.

Though Flair has cast some doubt on the finality of his retirement, it's unlikely at this point that he will capture another world title to put himself ahead of Cena. Similarly, with the SAG-AFTRA strike coming to an end as of November 8, Cena is almost certainly headed back to Hollywood, and recent teases point toward the possibility that his WWE Crown Jewel match against Solo Sikoa could be his last. With that in mind, the argument regarding which of the two is better will likely continue — at least until someone else eventually captures their 17th world championship.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.