Ex-WWE Superstar joins Ric Flair, Nick Aldis, and 14 more legends after accomplishing rare feat

WWE Superstars and legends have earned a lot of name and fame in various other wrestling promotions as well. Interestingly, they have also accomplished several great achievements at these promotions. Now, a former WWE wrestler has bagged a similar milestone and joined a rare club with Ric Flair, Nick Aldis, and fourteen more legends.

EC3 recently completed his one-year reign as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Worlds Heavyweight Champion. The 41-year-old won the title after defeating Tyrus on August 27, 2023. Notably, it was also the last match of Tyrus’ pro wrestling career. Following this, the official X handle of NWA posted a tweet to celebrate its world champ.

“Congratulations to @therealec3 on 1 Year as the National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Champion! The champ will be in action this weekend at #NWA76 in Philadelphia, PA!”

The other legendary pro wrestlers who have achieved this milestone include Harley Race, Lou Thesz, Terry Funk, Gene Kiniski, Dory Funk Jr., and Buddy Rogers.

Notably, RAW General Manager Adam Pearce has also won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title. However, while his first reign ended in 336 days, he fell short by just eight days from completing a year in his third reign which lasted 357 days.

While EC3 has joined the league of Ric Flair and other legends, another WWE Superstar may soon break one of his longtime records.

---

Ric Flair on John Cena breaking his record for maximum number of WWE championship reigns

Ric Flair has 16 world championship reigns under his belt. While this is the highest number of reigns achieved by any wrestler, he shares the top spot with John Cena. Recently, The Face That Runs The Place announced that he will be retiring from pro wrestling in 2025. This sparked conversations on whether or not Cena will get a 17th title run.

Nature Boy recently spoke about this topic on The Busted Open podcast and said that he doesn’t mind Cena overtaking him. However, he also mentioned that he doesn’t want Mr. You Can’t See Me to break his record. Instead, he said he wants his daughter, Charlotte Flair, who is a 14-time WWE champion, to surpass him before Cena.

"The honest to God truth, I think so much personally of John Cena. He’s one of those really great guys, in my opinion, and I’ve known a few. In a perfect world, it would be my daughter, which I think would be the biggest thing that could ever happen. I told her one time, 'You’d be as famous as Serena Williams if you broke that record. It’s been there for so long.' She didn’t like the comparison, but she’s as good an athlete as there is alive today. But if they do it with John, I’d have no problem. I’d be the first one to hit the ring and shake his hand," Ric Flair said. [H/T - WrestleZone]

While John Cena isn’t making any appearances right now, Charlotte Flair has been on an injury break since December 2023. It would be interesting to see both superstars return and compete for Nature Boy’s record once they’re back.