Jeff Hardy the best example of a star leaving at his peak?

[DrizzlinShytes]

I was trying to think about guys that left at their absolute peak of popularity. Sure guys like Kurt Angle left when he still had productive years left, but Jeff Hardy was arguably the biggest star in the company as he checked out. CM Punk teased leaving, but he certainly cashed in when he hit his peak.

[Deleted]

Batista arguably. Brock Lesnar as well.

[JTG Fan]

Yes, though Brock is right up there with him.

[DrizzlinShytes]

Aug 12, 2013 14:50:45 GMT -5 JTG Fan said:

Yes, though Brock is right up there with him.

Brock is a good mention, but he was getting booed out of the Garden at Wrestlemania too. Hardy was probably getting the biggest pops in the company, over Cena and HHH at the time.

[Red Impact]

He was getting booed because he was leaving though, wasn't he? Prior to that, he was still incredibly popular.

[JTG Fan]

Aug 12, 2013 14:54:20 GMT -5 DrizzlinShytes said:

Aug 12, 2013 14:50:45 GMT -5 JTG Fan said:

Yes, though Brock is right up there with him.

Brock is a good mention, but he was getting booed out of the Garden at Wrestlemania too. Hardy was probably getting the biggest pops in the company, over Cena and HHH at the time.

But he got booed because they knew he was leaving to play football. With Hardy, it was just rumored that his contract was running up and everyone expected him to either sign a new one or recharge his batteries for a few months. Different circumstances basically, though if Hardy were in NYC he likely would have gotten booed as well.

[rnrk supports BLM]

HBK in '98 certainly has to be up there, considering he went out with a Wrestlemania main event.

[Deleted]

Clearly Chavo Guerrero is the best example.

[thegame415]

Brock was only 26 when he left, and he was already a three time WWE Champion.

[Toxik916]

I wouldn't consider being a drugged out junkie a peak.

[babyfootball]

Part of the reasons Brock got booed weren't just because he was leaving, but because people didn't want him to leave and he was going to do something silly (attempt and most likely fail to make a middling NFL team) instead of wrestling, which he was really, really good at and had a lot of good years seemingly ahead of him.

The thing with Jeff is, while he was definitely at his peak popularity at the time, his fanbase wasn't all that different from Cena's, and he took a decent amount of smark heat for his failed drug tests and generally obnoxious personality, despite his obvious charisma and ability. I think if his last match is in NYC at a big event under those same kind of circumstances, he gets booed even worse than Lesnar did.

Everyone thought Brock was only really scratching the surface of his ultimate potential, while I think most would agree that Jeff overachieved in a way, due to catching on big with certain demographics.

[Talent Name]

I know its because of injuries but Edge

[Deleted]

He was definitely peaking. Just not in the way this thread means.

[mcmahonfan85]

i wouldn't call what Jeff Hardy did as "leaving at his peak". huge drug f*** up aside, in the end all he did was trade one wrestling promotion for another one.

[Throwback]

I'd say Trish was still pretty over when she decided to hang it up.

[TGM]

Bret Hart.

1997 was his best year.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Not counting Jeff Hardy.

The people who left at the top of their game were Edge, Batista, Trish Stratus and Brock Lesnar

[oniloco]

Magnum TA maybe, even though it wasn't his fault.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

What about Warrior.

[Throwback]

Aug 13, 2013 4:50:54 GMT -5 Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster said:

What about Warrior.

He didn't leave. The last thing he saw in WWE was