Ric Flair: John Cena’s heel turn is ‘the coolest thing’ WWE could have done

Ric Flair is a fan of the direction WWE has taken with John Cena’s heel turn.

In the WWE record books, Flair and Cena are currently tied for the most World title reigns in history with 16 each. Cena has a chance to take sole possession of that record next month when he challenges Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. It’s the final WrestleMania that Cena will ever compete at — and he’ll be doing so as a heel after aligning with The Rock and beating down Rhodes at Elimination Chamber.

Flair told TMZ Sports that he thinks Cena’s heel turn is the coolest thing WWE could have done. He’s excited to see where things go from here.

“I love it,” Flair said. “I tell ya, I think it’s the coolest thing they could have done. I think it’s great. As a matter of fact, I was hoping he was going to win the Royal Rumble. I mean, that was a great finish there too, you know? So I’m excited for him.”

Cena and Jey Uso were the final two in the 2025 men’s Royal Rumble match. Uso got the victory, but Cena secured his own Mania path with a win at Elimination Chamber.

On Raw earlier this week, Cena name-dropped Flair by promising to make everyone forget about “The Nature Boy” when he breaks the World title record. Cena said he is going to defeat Rhodes at WrestleMania and then retire as champion when his in-ring career concludes this December.

Flair reacted to that mention during his interview with TMZ Sports.

“You know the saying, they’re talking about you, you’re doing something right,” Flair said.

The 76-year-old Flair will be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41 weekend. His daughter will be in one of the top matches at the show with Charlotte Flair challenging Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship. Praising his daughter as the greatest female wrestler of all time, Flair said he thinks Charlotte might be the best wrestler in the business today. Flair added that, while he thinks Charlotte can be a babyface, she works best as a heel and has found her niche as a badass right now.

WrestleMania 41 is taking place on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20.