Ric Flair Praises John Cena, Says He 'Represents WWE at the Highest Level'

At SummerSlam, John Cena will get a chance to break Ric Flair's record and become a 17-time world champion—even if Roman Reigns is temporarily balking at the challenge.

If Cena does wind up unseating Flair as the most decorated men's competitor in WWE history, the Nature Boy is all for it.

"John Cena, the man's a star," Flair told Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. "He gave 10 years, every day of his life, to the business, and he is still finding new ways to work hard. John just doesn't know any other way. It's been a pleasure to see every piece of work he's done so far since coming back."

Cena returned to WWE at this month's Money in the Bank pay-per-view and immediately threw down the gauntlet to Reigns, who has held the Universal Championship for nearly a year. Reigns is in the midst of by far the greatest run of his career and has largely decimated the SmackDown roster—necessitating Cena returning from his burgeoning acting career to make an in-ring comeback.

Cena has not held a WWE championship since 2017. Before returning at MITB, he had not been on WWE programming in over a year because of scheduling conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"John represents WWE at the highest level," Flair said. "I'm as big a John Cena fan as you can find. Look at what's in store. John working Roman Reigns—that's going to be special."