Why didn't John Cena ever face Ric Flair?

[NegativeFeedback]

John faced every single veteran in the company. Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn, Benoit, Jericho, Big Show, Kane, JBL, Eddie, Chavo, Henry, Edge, Christian, Hardy, Mysterio, Finlay, Regal, Booker, Vince and even Mick Foley... But he never faced Ric Flair.

They were together in the same company for over 6 years and they never squared off.

In fact, get this, they only ever worked a tag match once and that was on Mar 24th 2008, the week before he retired. When Ric Flair tagged in Cena, I think that was the only time they ever touched each other in the ring. That's just crazy.

So what do you think? Speculate away. Why didn't we ever see John Cena take on the Nature Boy??

 

[TheDrix]

Maybe WWE never wanted shining star like Flair to beat another shining star like Cena and vice-versa..thats just what I think of at first.
They won the most titles so..maybe that could be the reason.

 

[MC_Live]

Logistics. When Cena was coming up he was on SmackDown and Flair was on RAW. When Cena went to RAW, he was still working his way up the ranks, so he may not have been Ric Flair level. Also, they were two faces, with neither one having a chance to be a heel. Through 06 Cena and Flair had different angles. Flair got drafted to SmackDown in 07, was off for a few months not too long after, and once he returned he got put on the "you lose you retire" stick. Cena had other feuds to focus on, so the only thing I can think of is logistics. It just never worked out to put those two together. And then Flair retired. It obviously would have been a really cool idea. Just never worked out.

 

[Mudlup50]

Well for the beginning of Cena's career he was on Smackdown and Flair was on Raw. I don't remember how much wrestling Flair did when Cena got drafted to Raw but I'm sure it wasn't as much as before. Plus you figure wasn't Flair pretty much a face after that? Cena's never been a heel on Raw so in that aspect it adds up. I'm really not sure, maybe they just didn't want the 2 guys to go at it, leave it as a "dream" match later on. I mean if they booked it for today you've have 30 world title wins between them. That match up could never happen again(and of course that's using the WWE count for Flair). Why isn't this a dream match now?

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Well for the beginning of Cena's career he was on Smackdown and Flair was on Raw. I don't remember how much wrestling Flair did when Cena got drafted to Raw but I'm sure it wasn't as much as before. Plus you figure wasn't Flair pretty much a face after that? Cena's never been a heel on Raw so in that aspect it adds up. I'm really not sure, maybe they just didn't want the 2 guys to go at it, leave it as a "dream" match later on. I mean if they booked it for today you've have 30 world title wins between them. That match up could never happen again(and of course that's using the WWE count for Flair). Why isn't this a dream match now?

Cena has a faced a ton of faces in his career, much more than any other top guy I think. Triple H, HBK, Orton, RVD, Rock, Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Lashley, Foley, CM Punk, Zack Ryder, Ryback, etc.

Cena could have also faced Flair in a multi-man match or teamed with, but it jus never happened. I'm telling you, it feels almost deliberate that they were kept away from each other in the ring. He was paired with every face imaginable in tag matches all the time, but never with Ric Flair.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Beyond everything that has been mentioned, Flair has been an old man for a really long time. Cena is supposed to be a hero. As long as he is a hero, he has no business beating up old men like Flair, Hogan, Sting, and even UT. It does not fit his character.

 

[fenderjapan]

It would have been a real test for Cena, and probably fun to watch. A test not in the sense that anyone would believe Flair could beat him, but a test in the sense that Cena would have had to let Flair work his style. Cheap shots, low blows, complaining to the ref, etc. Weird comparison, but remember the match on Heat Val Venis had with Ric Flair? No one looked at the two of them and thought Flair had a chance. But Flair worked his dirtiest player style and made it believable. I bet Cena could have done something similar with Ric, although Cena can't work like Val

 

[Nate DaMac]

. Weird comparison, but remember the match on Heat Val Venis had with Ric Flair?

Uh, no?

No one looked at the two of them and thought Flair had a chance. But Flair worked his dirtiest player style and made it believable.

What? No one thought Flair had a chance? I would figure that Flair winning would be a foregone conclusion since you know, Flair matters.

I bet Cena could have done something similar with Ric, although Cena can't work like Val

That may be the stupidest thing ever said on these forums. Holy. Shit.

But yeah, what GSB said. Beating up guys 15 years past their prime isn't exactly Cena's M.O. Of all the people the (idiot) OP mentioned, Flair is the only one over 60. I guess they could have made it work, but there really wasn't any reason to.

 

[A11oftheLights]

Logistics. When Cena was coming up he was on SmackDown and Flair was on RAW. When Cena went to RAW, he was still working his way up the ranks, so he may not have been Ric Flair level. Also, they were two faces, with neither one having a chance to be a heel. Through 06 Cena and Flair had different angles. Flair got drafted to SmackDown in 07, was off for a few months not too long after, and once he returned he got put on the "you lose you retire" stick. Cena had other feuds to focus on, so the only thing I can think of is logistics. It just never worked out to put those two together. And then Flair retired. It obviously would have been a really cool idea. Just never worked out.

When Cena went to Raw he was WWE champion and has been top dog ever since, if anything Flair was no longer on Cena's level as flair was a legend, and arguably the greatest of all time, whose best days were past him. Thats what probably kept them apart.

 

[LBGetBack]

I think it's a case where booking-wise it just never worked out to have a good opportunity.

When Cena was a heel early in his career, Flair was also heel with Evolution.

When they were both face, a face vs. face match would've ended with the sympathetic legend Flair getting ALL the cheers. Probably not a good idea for the top face champ to be booed out of the building against an old man legend. Cena did other face vs.face matched(HBK in 2007) back then, but HBK was still in his prime and the match made sense.

At that point, it only would've worked if Cena went heel, and that wasn't happening.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Cena vs Flair is another dream match we as fans were robbed of because if it had happened then honestly it would have made for a great match because no doubt Cena would have made Flair look good but also Flair I think he would have been able to put on a good match with Cena

 

[Hitman80]

Personally I think the match was too risky.
Cena needs to be in the ring with the right people and Flair was well past his prime and would have struggled to carry it also. I've made my feelings on Flair being over rated before and this older and past it version was worst.
Would have been a clusterf*ck of a match in my opinion but others will surely disagree.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Personally I think the match was too risky.
Cena needs to be in the ring with the right people and Flair was well past his prime and would have struggled to carry it also. I've made my feelings on Flair being over rated before and this older and past it version was worst.
Would have been a clusterf*ck of a match in my opinion but others will surely disagree.

But that doesn't change why we never got to see them in a tag match. Cena tagged with every face on the roster except Flair.

 

[Hitman80]

DX, Flair and Cena faced Rated RKO, Big Show and Dysktra on Raw in 2006/7ish time

Also... Jbl, Orton, big show and Umaga faced hhh, hbk, cena and flair in 2008 before Mania

 

[Terry Silver]

I think its a big slap in the face to ric flair that cena in 12 years is a 15 time champ.

Ric flair is a real wrestler.

John cena is a puppet.

 

[FlairFan2003]

John faced every single veteran in the company. Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn, Benoit, Jericho, Big Show, Kane, JBL, Eddie, Chavo, Henry, Edge, Christian, Hardy, Mysterio, Finlay, Regal, Booker, Vince and even Mick Foley... But he never faced Ric Flair.


In fact, get this, they only ever worked a tag match once and that was on Mar 24th 2008, the week before he retired. When Ric Flair tagged in Cena, I think that was the only time they ever touched each other in the ring. That's just crazy.

So what do you think? Speculate away. Why didn't we ever see John Cena take on the Nature Boy??

Cena & Flair were both fan faves on the RAW Brand in 06-07 leading into Flair's retirement. They did wrestle as a team a few times however, including in a RAW Main Event the week before R-Rumble 2006 I believe when RAW was in NC. They faced Edge as part of the Cena-Edge fued (along with Kenny Dysktra) one week after Flair had that hellacious TLC Match vs Edge (when he confronted Edge and complained about how he stole the title from Cena, post match when Edge tries to take Flair out with the Con-Chair-to Cena makes the save).

Prior to that when Cena was first building his brand on Smackdown Flair was on RAW, mostly as a non wrestler in his managerial role for various Evolution stars. They weren't on the same roster when they weren't both fan faves.

After Cena joined RAW they were always treated as buds although Flair didn't spend as much time with Cena as he did HHH.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Personally I think the match was too risky.
Cena needs to be in the ring with the right people and Flair was well past his prime and would have struggled to carry it also. I've made my feelings on Flair being over rated before and this older and past it version was worst.
Would have been a clusterf*ck of a match in my opinion but others will surely disagree.

Are you trying to say Cena is bad....because Flair had some excellent matches 06-07 vs Foley, Edge, HHH, & HBK as well as Randy Orton

 

[FlairFan2003]

But that doesn't change why we never got to see them in a tag match. Cena tagged with every face on the roster except Flair.

The wrestled as partners vs Edge/Kenny Dyskstra in Jan 06 one week after Flair's brutal World Title TLC Match vs Edge on RAW (right after Edge cashed in Money In The Bank and won the title from Cena).

 

[FlairFan2003]

I think it's a case where booking-wise it just never worked out to have a good opportunity.

When Cena was a heel early in his career, Flair was also heel with Evolution.

When they were both face, a face vs. face match would've ended with the sympathetic legend Flair getting ALL the cheers. Probably not a good idea for the top face champ to be booed out of the building against an old man legend. Cena did other face vs.face matched(HBK in 2007) back then, but HBK was still in his prime and the match made sense.

At that point, it only would've worked if Cena went heel, and that wasn't happening.

They could have done a face vs face match if the timing was right. HBK was in the World Title scene at the time and Cena needed to beat him, It also elevated Cena's character. Flair was used to put over Jeff Hardy and try to get Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, & RVD over as well so the idea of him working with a younger guy and putting him over wasn't out of the question. It also could have worked the other way, while Flair put over top names like Taker, Austin, & Angle he also had high profile wins vs HHH, HBK, Orton, & Foley, and had a PPPV win vs Edge. I can see the match going either way depending on who's storyline was more valuable at the moment.

However, not only were both men working as fan faves when they were both on RAW (and as one poster pointed out Flair was deeply popular with the audience, not just kids but adults also, Cena would have been jeered in this encounter most likely) Flair also wrestled a very limited schedule with either long time off screen or long periods spent in a non wrestling role. There weren't as many opportunities for them to work together when you factor that in too.

 

[FlairFan2003]

When Cena went to Raw he was WWE champion and has been top dog ever since, if anything Flair was no longer on Cena's level as flair was a legend, and arguably the greatest of all time, whose best days were past him. Thats what probably kept them apart.

Flair & HBK were the top stars on RAW at the time as Cena was hitting his stride, but Flair was not consistently in the title picture because he worked a very limited schedule, a little less than HBK, who also worked a very limited part timers schedule. Flair appeared full time during the Evolution storyline because he could months without actually wrestling, then actively wrestle for a short period, then back to just being a manager & mouthpiece. After Evolution fell apart and Flair turned face he would take long stretches off, return for a few fueds in a row, then disappear. Much like HBK, only Flair's absences were longer.

That schedule, and the desire to milk every penny out of him when he returned having him face guys like Orton & HHH while trying elevate young guys like Carlito & Shelton Benjamin plays a big role in why they never met, Cena didn't need the rub from Flair, win or lose, by this point the way the others did and there was easier money to make having Flair go against main event level heels like Orton, Edge, HHH, Angle, he wrestled Christian for a while also during this period.

Flair was also used a lot as "enhancement" for other people's feuds, he played a major role in the early days of Cena-Edge and a later role in the DX vs McMahon/Spirit Squad feud during this time.

 

[Hitman80]

Not bad as such but not great either. I think they both needed to be in the ring with the right people to have good matches. Cena gets beat down and then becomes superman and Flair at the time especially was the old man who got beat down but somehow won.

I'm not sure who would have lead the match and I wouldn't have had high expectations from the two.