Only Two WWE Stars Control Their IP — And John Cena Isn’t One of Them
Leave WWE and your name doesn’t come with you. Only two stars own their ring-name IP—and John Cena isn’t one of them. The rare pair: Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Ric Flair.
Here is the short version up top: Ric Flair says only two people in WWE actually own their names and likenesses, and yes, one of them is The Rock. No, John Cena is not the other one. And Flair says he had to claw his name back from WWE while he was recovering from a near-fatal health scare in 2017. There are some spicy details in here.
Only two stars own their WWE IP (and Cena is not one of them)
Flair laid it out on the Games with Names podcast on October 22, 2025: in WWE, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Ric Flair are the only two performers who own their intellectual property. That means the names, the likenesses, the whole presentation. Everyone else? WWE keeps it. That is why wrestlers often change their ring names when they leave. A clip of Flair saying this made the rounds a couple days later on social media.
He also said John Cena does not own his IP, even though Cena wrestles under his real name. That is a pretty telling example of how tight WWE holds this stuff.
Flair says he fought for his name while he was on the mend
The short backstory: Flair almost died in 2017 after a nightmare run of complications following bowel surgery. While he was on life support and everyone thought he was done, he says people started cashing in. He even accuses his own agent of taking $150,000. He also says WWE sent letters trying to get him to sign his IP back over.
Flair’s version is that he forced the issue by threatening to make it public, not by actually filing a lawsuit. He does contradict himself for a second — he says 'I sued them' and then immediately says he did not — but what he describes sounds like leverage and a public pressure play rather than a courtroom battle.
'I didn’t sue ’em. I just said, I’m going public with this. Give me my s**t back.'
He also slips in a little life advice: estate planning matters, especially when your entire brand is your name.
Where Hogan fits in
According to Flair, Hulk Hogan had his IP sorted out at one point too, but everything got messy after a money fight within his family. For context, Hogan passed away in July of this year at 71.
Undertaker and Stone Cold, still tied up
Flair says WWE has not given The Undertaker or Stone Cold Steve Austin their IP — and it ticks them off. Mark Calaway runs his 'Six Feet Under' podcast under his real name; Flair says he still cannot get 'The Undertaker' rights. As for Austin, Flair’s blunt read is that WWE will never hand over 'Stone Cold.' And you can see why the company hangs on: they keep booking Undertaker meet-and-greets at premium live events, and Stone Cold merch still moves like crazy with fans who grew up on the Attitude Era.
A quick rewind to Flair’s 2017 health scare
Flair’s health collapsed after surgery to remove an obstructive part of his bowel. His intestine ruptured shortly after, which spiraled into kidney failure, respiratory failure, sepsis, and pneumonia. Doctors did not expect him to survive. He did, and on September 2, 2017, he posted a video telling everyone he was back — with a very Ric Flair message and a 'Woooo!' for good measure. He went home on September 21, 2017, after 38 days of treatment and rehab. At 76, he still pops up at shows and occasionally takes a bump to let everyone know he can.
So here is the bigger picture: WWE owning most ring names is standard, but Flair is saying the only exceptions inside that system right now are him and The Rock, while legends like The Undertaker and Stone Cold are still boxed out. That is a big, behind-the-scenes power dynamic hiding in plain sight every time you see a T-shirt.
Where do you land on this? Should guys like John Cena, Randy Orton, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy get their IP rights outright, or is WWE within bounds to keep what it built? Drop your take in the comments.