5 Biggest Contenders To Ric Flair's World Title Record

2. Sting

When venturing outside of WWE umbrella, several other men immediately enter the fray as contenders to Flair’s 16 reigns as champ; with none more prominent than the man they call Sting.

Before officially retiring earlier this year at the 2016 Hall of Fame ceremony, “The Icon” was dangerously close to matching Flair’s record with some pretty impressive stats of his own.

During his time in Atlanta, the franchise player of WCW racked up a total of nine World Titles reigns; one NWA World Heavyweight Championship, two WCW International World Heavyweight Championships and six WCW World Heavyweight Championships.

Meanwhile, his 10 year stint in TNA saw “The Icon” add one more reign as NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion while the company was still part of the National Wrestling Alliance and a further four reigns as TNA World Heavyweight Champion once the company had branched off on its own.Throw in the World Heavyweight Title of the short-lived WWA promotion (which would eventually become unified with the NWA World’s Title in 2002) and Sting’s record equals that of John Cena at 15.

Ironically, had he defeated Seth Rollins in what turned out to be Sting’s final match at Night of Champions 2015, WWE’s “Vigilante” would have equalled the legendary record of his career-rival; although WWE would have almost certainly never acknowledged it due to the inclusion of non-WWE Titles in that statistic.

Instead, The Stinger incurred a cataclysmic neck injury during the Rollins bout and would later be diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis; a condition that would require serious surgery. Sadly for Sting, the severity of the damage done would prove to be career-ending; forcing “The Icon” to announce his retirement six months later during his Hall of Fame induction speech.

Fittingly, the man to induct Sting that night was the very man he defeated for his very first World Championship way back in 1990 at The Great American Bash. You guessed it – “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

It was beyond fitting. Flair had waged war with Sting throughout “The Icon’s” entire career; from the very beginning to the very end. Flair had made Sting a star at the first ever Clash of Champions in 1988 and Sting was Flair’s final opponent ever when they collided for TNA in 2011. Throw in a historic main event between the two to close out the last ever WCW Monday Nitro and you have a rivalry so rich in history it should be a taught in schools worldwide.

The induction made Sting the first and, as of press, only dual member of both WWE and TNA Hall of Fames, yet the announcement of his retirement made the career swansong a bittersweet moment for the fans.

In a sport where retirements very rarely last, could we ever see Sting once again don the face paint for one last record-equalling run? While largely unlikely, in the words of the man himself, “the only thing for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure”.