Ric Flair’s daughter Charlotte reacts to John Cena’s verbal shot at her father

Cena will try to go one clear of Ric Flair as a 17-time WWE champion, when he vies for gold at WrestleMania

Ric Flair’s daughter Charlotte has taken exception to John Cena’s claim that he will make WWE fans “forget” her father’s name.

At WrestleMania 41 in April, Cena will challenge Cody Rhodes in a bid to become a record-breaking 17-time world champion, and the longtime ‘good guy’ has shown off a darker side in recent weeks.

Cena, competing in his final year in WWE, has ‘turned heel’ (become a bad guy), and on Monday’s episode of Raw, he vowed to etch his place in history at the expense of Flair, who is also a 16-time world champion.

“I am going to ruin wrestling,” Cena said in Glasgow. “I am going to ruin wrestling for every fan, every wrestler, for everyone. At WrestleMania, I make history by winning a 17th championship, and finally force you to forget the name of the fun machine, jet-flying, ‘woo’, Ric Flair. You will forever say the name John Cena.”

In an interview with The Independent on Friday (28 March), Charlotte – who is a record 14-time women’s champion – said: “You can’t erase history. History is facts. And if you erase my dad, you erase me. It’s not possible to erase the last name Flair.

“I plan on breaking my dad’s record, that’s something I want to do and will do. But if John is the first to break it, then I will break John’s record.”

Charlotte can become a 15-time champion at WrestleMania, as she challenges Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship. That match follows Charlotte’s Royal Rumble win in January, the second victory of her career in that match.

Charlotte Flair during a reign as Smackdown Women’s Champion (WWE)

John Cena (left) is addressed by WrestleMania opponent Cody Rhodes in Glasgow (WWE/Netflix)

“I don’t plan on slowing down, that’s not why I came back,” said Charlotte, 38, having been absent from WWE for over a year before the Rumble.

“I haven’t held that title. It’s still something new, and so is [the Women’s World Title]. I was the inaugural Raw Women’s Champion, so these titles match my DNA. Every time one of those is raised... [it affects me], but I haven’t held those two.”

WrestleMania 41 will take place on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 April, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It will stream live on Netflix in the UK and most territories worldwide, as part of subscribers’ existing plans (at no additional cost, in other words). In the US, however, the event will air live on Peacock pay-per-view.

In January, all of WWE’s shows began streaming live on Netflix in the UK and most territories worldwide; in the US, every show except SmackDown (which remains on the USA Network) also airs on Netflix.