Congratulations to Ric Flair on his recent WWE World title victory

Seeing as The Miz introduced him with his usual, official WWE World title count of 16, we’re guessing this is just a production snafu.

But who knows! Maybe they want to give John Cena something to chase should he decide to come back for more than just one off appearances. Or maybe they’re worried Charlotte Flair might catch up on the old man a little too quickly.

For one strut down the ramp last night in Phoenix, however, WWE recognized Ric Flair as a “17 Time Champion”...

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And, look, the graphic doesn’t say “World” on it. Maybe they’re counting other championships, like the tag titles, or Wheeler/Dealer of the Year (awarded annually by the International Player’s Club), or something?

It’s not like WWE’s number hasn’t always been their own construct. Flair has represented his World title total as 21, and you’ll see figures slightly above and below that.

We’ll leave it for wrestling historians to figure out. Let’s have a bit of the bubbly and celebrate The Nature Boy’s newest accomplishment. If you can get the bottle away from Naitch himself, that is.