8 Wrestlers Who Quit On Top
7. Edge
Come WrestleMania XXVII, Edge's flag was firmly planted on the wrestling mountain he'd worked so tirelessly to ascend. Though he wasn't in the main event - that, obviously, was reserved for John Cena's angle with The Rock - he was nevertheless one of WWE's two top champions, emerging from the show with the World Heavyweight gold still in tact. But behind the scenes, the view from the summit was not as magnificent as it seemed.
They say, if you're Everest conqueror Sir Ranulph Fiennes, or an incompetent prime minister mumbling metaphors instead of giving direct information, that the descent is even harder than the climb. For Edge, it was utterly heartbreaking. Just a week after besting Alberto Del Rio in Atlanta, the Rated R-Superstar suddenly announced that the gig was up. A fused spine and a brittle neck meant he'd reached the top and had to stop.
His championship was vacated that same week, and within a year came a bittersweet induction into WWE's Hall of Fame, paying tribute to his career but confirming its end.