Ric Flair famously held the record for the most world titles in wrestling history with 16, until he was beaten by John Cena at WrestleMania 41.
When he retired in 2008 (the first of many retirements) Flair’s record looked unbeatable. Nobody in history even came close to 16 reigns, especially in the manner of which he won them.
The Nature Boy won belts between 1981 and 2000, defending all over the globe as the last great champion of the territory era.
However, Cena’s win over Cody Rhodes in April 2025 handed him a 17th world title, breaking Flair’s long-standing record in the process.
But is that really what happened?
Read More: Explore the incredible career of two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, available in paperback and on Kindle.
WWE claim Ric Flair is a 16-time world champion
WWE claim that Ric Flair won 16 world championships in his career, and each one is accounted for in the record books.
As mentioned, his worst championship victory was in 1981, when Flair pinned Harley Race to become NWA World’s Heavyweight champion: the first of 8 officials reigns with the belt.
He added a further six WCW World heavyweight championships and two reigns as WWF (now WWE) Champion. The breakdown of his 16 world titles is as follows:
- 8 NWA World’s Heavyweight Championships
- 6 WCW World Heavyweight Championships
- 2 WWE Championships
Source: WWE.com.
This put him above every wrestler in history, giving him one more title than El Canek (15) and two more than Triple H and Sting (14 each).
This was until John Cena matched Flair’s record when he pinned AJ Styles in 2017 to take home his 16th world title in WWE, before he surpassed it at WrestleMania 41against Cody Rhodes.
His full list of WWE-acknowledged title wins are as follows:
| # | Date | Title | Opponent |
| 1 | 17 September 1981 | NWA World’s Heavyweight | Dusty Rhodes |
| 2 | 24 November 1983 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (2) | Harley Race |
| 3 | 24 May 1984 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (3) | Kerry Von Erich |
| 4 | 9 August 1986 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (4) | Dusty Rhodes |
| 5 | 26 November 1987 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (5) | Ronnie Garvin |
| 6 | 7 May 1989 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (6) | Ricky Steamboat |
| 7 | 11 January 1991 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (7) | Sting |
| 8 | 19 January 1992 | WWF Heavyweight | 29 men (Royal Rumble match) |
| 9 | 1 September 1992 | WWF Heavyweight (2) | Randy Savage |
| 10 | 18 July 1993 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (8) | Barry Windham |
| 11 | 27 December 1993 | WCW World Heavyweight | Vader |
| 12 | 27 December 1995 | WCW World Heavyweight (2) | Randy Savage |
| 13 | 11 February 1996 | WCW World Heavyweight (3) | Randy Savage |
| 14 | 14 March 1999 | WCW World Heavyweight (4) | Hulk Hogan |
| 15 | 15 May 2000 | WCW World Heavyweight (5) | Jeff Jarrett |
| 16 | 29 May 2000 | WCW World Heavyweight (6) | Awarded title by Kevin Nash after being stripped by Vince Russo |
While it is as impressive a list of victories as any other wrestler in history, it doesn’t tell the full story of The Nature Boy’s greatness.
The Evidence: Ric Flair won 22 world titles in his career
WWE may claim 16, but 22 looks to be the real number of championship reigns that Ric Flair had in his illustrious wrestling career.
The promotion do not acknowledge six of his reigns with various world titles that bring his total well above Cena’s purported record-breaking tally.
The first phantom title reign was in September 1982, when Flair traded the NWA title with Jack Venemo in the Dominican Republic.
It was a common tactic in places like Puerto Rico and the Domican Republic to have the champion drop the title to the hometown hero, only to quickly win it back before leaving the territory.
Flair did this to both Venemo and Carlos Colon, as well as a quick title change with Harley Race in 1984 in New Zealand to bring his NWA World’s Heavyweight title total up to 11 reigns with the belt.
The Nature Boy also holds an additional 7th WCW World Heavyweight title reign, with his confusing NWA title win over Sting in 1991.
This victory saw the split between the NWA and WCW belts, and both organisations recognised Flair as their own world champion, respectively.
His final two additional wins came with a lesser-known belt in WCW, the WCW International World Championship.
This was created in 1993 when WCW officially split from the NWA and took the “Big Gold” belt with them, renaming it as their new title.
It had a short shelf life, as the other world title was still active in WCW at this time. Only four men with a combined eight reigns held this new title, including a pair of reigns for Flair and Ric Rude’s only world title wins.
| # | Date | Title | Opponent |
| 1 | September 7, 1982 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (9) | Jack Venemo |
| 2 | January 10, 1983 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (10) | Carlos Colon |
| 3 | March 23, 1984 | NWA World’s Heavyweight (11) | Harley Race |
| 4 | January 11, 1991 | WCW World Heavyweight (7) | Sting |
| 5 | July 18, 1993 | WCW International World | Barry Windham |
| 6 | June 23, 1994 | WCW International World (2) | Sting |
Flair beat Barry Windham and Sting to win these titles, bringing his total of phantom title wins to 6, and his overall reigns as World Champion up to 22 – a full 5 more than John Cena managed in his storied career.
Some estimates go even higher than 22, even up to 27, although we have struggled to find evidence for the remaining 5 wins.
Ric Flair claimed he won 21 world titles
While he doesn’t think he’s a 22-time champ, Flair is happy to admit he has 5 more titles than WWE say he does.
Speaking on his To Be The Man podcast back in 2022, the Nature Boy admitted that he has 21 world titles, citing the WCW International title as one WWE fails to acknowledge.
“They said, ‘So how many times is it really that you’ve been world champion, crowned world champion?’ And I said, ‘21.’
We had two champs in WCW. They didn’t count that. That’s 21. And this was crazy when you’re talking about someone breaking my record, it would be a while.
“So I’m on that. I’m happy with 16 but it’s funny.”
If you want to dive even deeper into the life and career of “The Nature Boy,” Ric Flair in The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Packed with behind‑the‑scenes insights, wild tales from the territory days, and reflections on his legendary championship reigns, it’s the perfect companion to this history. You can pick up a copy through Amazon, and support this site while reliving the career of wrestling’s greatest champion.
