The wrestling world’s most enduring record has a new owner, and the daughter of the man who held it for decades has shared her perspective on the historic shift. Following John Cena’s record-breaking 17th world title victory over Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, Charlotte Flair has spoken about the milestone.
In an interview with The Takedown on SI, Flair expressed that there was no bitterness, only respect for Cena, who is in the midst of his final year in WWE. She believes he was the ideal person to surpass her father’s legendary mark.
“Records are meant to be broken. I don’t wanna speak for my dad, but I think in this case I can, John was the guy to do it. And I think he couldn’t be more proud of John. Even me seeing John Cena and what he means to the industry and what he means to me as a performer, I don’t think it was sad. The record stood the test of time for a very long time and it was finally broken.”
While acknowledging the significance of Cena’s achievement, Flair clarified that her own competitive ambitions have always been centered on her family’s legacy. With 14 World Championships to her name, she sees her ultimate goal as matching or breaking her father’s record, not necessarily Cena’s new one.
“The first part of my career, I really didn’t think about it. Now that I’m so close, I don’t think for me it’s about tying or breaking John, but… could I have the opportunity to tie or break my father. The competition was with him, not necessarily tied to Cena.”
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The conversation comes after a pivotal WrestleMania weekend for all involved. While Cena captured his historic title, Flair herself suffered a setback in a tough loss to Tiffany Stratton.
Now, as Charlotte prepares for her next steps at WWE Evolution 2, the pursuit of championship gold remains intertwined with family history. Her chase continues as Cena’s reign as the Undisputed WWE Champion sets a new standard for greatness in the industry.
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