Ric Flair on Randy Orton, Fans Booing Cena, Top Performers

The Daily Star held a recent interview with Ric Flair discussing why Randy Orton did not want a Cena-like role in the WWE, fans booing Cena over the years, and who he currently considers as the top performers in the WWE.

On the topic of Randy Orton not following a similar route as Cena as a top star, Flair stated it is due to Orton not wanting to do all the extra stuff required by the WWE. He mentioned Orton is the type who would rather enjoy his free time resting and being with his family than exhaust himself doing things he would not get paid for.

“If you look at John Cena, you have to look at the whole scenario of John’s career. John is just an in-ring performer. He’s very good in interviews, number one. Number two, he exhausts himself giving his off time to stuff he doesn’t get paid for. Kids love him. Randy [Orton] doesn’t want that role. Randy is happy, he wants to be home with his wife and kids. Could Randy pull it off? Of course. But Randy isn’t interested in working in his days off. I don’t blame him, not everybody is. That’s a tough role, you sacrifice a lot of personal time and that’s what my daughter [Charlotte Flair] is doing right now, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.”

On the topic of fans booing Cena over the years, Flair stated someone of Cena’s status should be appreciated a lot more instead of being constantly booed as fans have done over the years towards him.

“If you don’t respect John Cena, you don’t respect anybody. I’m not sure how I feel about that [the boos]. Look what they say to Kurt Angle when he walks out: ‘You suck’. It doesn’t make sense. Because Kurt’s very popular and of course John is the flagship of the company. He’s working in a limited schedule now and pursuing other avenues that he’s earned the right to do. He conducts himself, carries himself, he’s very classy, he is very, very well-read, very intellectual, and that speaks volumes. We don’t have a lot of people like that.”

On the topic of who he thinks are currently the top performers in the WWE, Flair stated Randy Orton and AJ Styles. He believes Seth Rollins is very close to joining those two as the best performers on WWE’s roster.

“I think the two best performers in the company right now are Randy Orton and AJ Styles – Seth Rollins being close right there.”