CM Punk is set to face John Cena one final time, and the Best in the World has suggested there is a current star who could beat his World Championship record.
John Cena has long been WWE’s highest earner and, as such, often holds the top belts in the company.
He became a record-setting 17-time World Champion in WWE after defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.
Cena had long been joint top alongside WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, but now he holds the record outright.
Many believe the record will never be beaten, but Punk believes there’s one WWE star who has the potential to smash the record.
CM Punk says Randy Orton could beat John Cena’s WWE record
Ahead of CM Punk’s match with Cena at Night of Champions on June 28, Punk has named Orton as a potential to reach 17 World Championships.
The Viper currently holds 14 World Championships, but has recently signed a new long-term contract with the company.
“I don’t know if anybody in this room is going to live long enough to see anybody else accomplish that,” said Punk at the WWE SummerSlam kick-off show about Cena’s 17-time World Championship record.
However, the star did pluck out one name who has the potential to topple Cena’s incredible championship record.
“It could be Randy [Orton]. Randy is probably our best bet,” said the Best in the World, before throwing more shade at his Night of Champions opponent.
The star continued: “One thing, the big difference between Randy and John is Randy didn’t sell his soul to The Rock.”
Orton has not held a World Championship since winning the WWE Championship from Drew McIntyre in 2020.
The star has competed for the top belt on two occasions since returning from injury, against Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at Bash in Berlin and for Cena’s WWE Championship at Backlash.
John Cena’s record will likely never be broken by a rising WWE star
Now that WWE is out of the hands of Vince McMahon and Triple H is at the helm, there’s very little chance a new star will hold the belt into double figures.
Since 2022 when The Game took charge, there have only been three WWE Champions and four World Heavyweight Champions.
Reigns held the WWE Championship for over 1000 days, while Rhodes’ title run was over a year between WrestleMania events.
With such incredibly long title reign lengths, there’s virtually no chance any star will hold more than 17 World Championships.