At WrestleMania 41, fans witnessed John Cena capturing his 17th WWE World Championship. He’s a record-breaking 17-time world title winner, surpassing Ric Flair’s feat.

Speaking at the FAN EXPO Canada, Cena claimed that his 17th World Championship was not personally important, but essential for business. The retired WWE star said,

“The logical answer is the first one, right? Because you can’t have the story without the first one. Seventeen was important, but—not personally important—I think it was important for the industry.”

“Anytime a record stands for a long time, you think it’s impossible. Anytime you can eclipse that, I meant what I said: I can’t wait to shake the hand of the person who wins 18. It’s like nobody can break a four-minute mile, then somebody breaks one, and then a bunch of people break it.”

“I just wanted to send a message to the young talent, especially if you’ve got some really young talent who have their whole careers in front of them. You can put this in your head as a number, as a goal, and it’s achievable.”

“For me, the real fun one was the IC Title in Boston. My family was there. I got to be in the ring with an incredibly young and talented individual. Gosh, I got a fun moment in my hometown. I might have had one too many pints afterward in celebration. The IC Title in Boston was very fun.”

Cena Comments On WWE Champion’s Current Run

At the same Fan Expo in Canada, Cena shared his thoughts on CM Punk’s current WWE run. He said,

“I think CM Punk right now is doing his best work. And that kind of sucks because I had a lot of awesome moments with CM Punk.”

“When I see the passion that CM Punk brings to every feud, he’s kind of stepped into the same situation that he kind of made fun of me about 15 years ago. He’s in a real polarizing situation, and it’s cool to see him handle it in stride.”

“I think his selling has somehow gotten better, and it was already really, really good. I think his storytelling is deliberate and passionate. I think he brings the best out of his opponents, which is very important.”

“It’s crazy to say this because I want to selfishly say that the chemistry we had was the best, but in my opinion, he’s doing his best work.”