WWE History: 5 superstars who hurt the company when they left

For many fans growing up, their life-long dream is to make it to WWE.

The biggest professional wrestling company in the world, only a few chosen people will ever make it to the McMahon-owned company.

And yet, some Superstars have found that getting to the WWE was the easy part, and have been left feeling disgruntled, underutilized, and downright angry at the company for how they have been used.

Some stars have gone on to much bigger things after walking away from the WWE, much to the dismay of Vince.

Here are five WWE Superstars who left the company, and certainly left an impact when they did.

---

#5 Hulk Hogan

Hogan won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 9 but was gone not long after

Despite his controversial real-life moments, Hulk Hogan will always be synonymous with the WWE.

One of the company's biggest stars, Hogan headlined eight of the first nine WrestleManias (and still was in the ring last for the one he didn't), before leaving in 1993.

His departure gave rivals WCW a huge opportunity, as they quickly snagged up the Hulkster in the biggest jumping ship moment at the time.

Instantly, WCW was a bigger deal than ever before, as the promotion was host to the biggest star in wrestling history.

Returning to the WWE in 2014, Hogan's departure the next year again hurt the WWE, who had no choice but to fire the former World Champion after racist comments were leaked.

Whilst the WWE definitely did the right thing firing the man, this did leave them with plenty of plans for the Hulkster unfinished, and WWE chooses scarcely to use the Hall of Famer since he was reinstated into the Hall of Fame last year.

#4 Scott Hall and Kevin Nash

WCW gained a lot of star power when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall joined

When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWF for the sunny shores of WCW, things were bleak for the McMahon promotion.

Both men had become staples of the product, and despite the company's efforts to have imitators, everyone saw through the charade.

Scott Hall had been a solid mid-carder as Razor Ramon, so his departure left a hole in the WWF.

Losing Kevin Nash though, was probably worse, as the man called Diesel had been the company's top star, holding the WWF Championship for nearly a year, mere months before he left.

This definitely made WWE look bad, and was a huge coup for Ted Turner's WCW.

Together, the pair aligned with Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1996, forming the nWo, one of WCW's biggest ever moments.

#3 Cody Rhodes

Rhodes reportedly rejected an offer to return to WWE

Cody Rhodes' career in WWE was fine.

Appearing on the main roster in 2007, Rhodes would quickly hold the World Tag Team Titles with Hardcore Holly, before turning heel.

After turning on the Hardcore one, Rhodes would find a nice niche for himself as an upper mid-carder, competing for the Intercontinental Championship, though his arguable peek came in 2013 as a face, teaming with his family.

Repackaged as Stardust, Rhodes at first loved the character, though grew tired of it, and left the company in 2016, believing he could do better elsewhere.

He was right, as now Rhodes is one of the hottest independent stars around, as well as a former NWA Heavyweight Champion.

Now the founder of AEW, time will tell how big the promotion will be, though the WWE must no doubt be regretting letting the grandson of a Plumber go.

#2 Goldust

The Golden One was supposed to be behind GTV

Much like his brother Cody, Goldust had a surprisingly big impact when he left the WWF.

Joining the WWF in 1995, the Golden One was one of the company's most dedicated mid-carders and used his years of experience to help build the mid-card scene.

So when he left for WCW, the WWF surely suffered over the loss of one of their most competent hands, as the company was in a war with the Atlanta promotion.

Perhaps the biggest and most direct impact Goldust's departure had, was on GTV.

For those younger fans, GTV would show candid footage of Superstars, often in compromising states, to shock both fans and Superstars, as speculation ran roughshod of who was behind the camera.

The plan was supposed to be Goldust (as in Goldust TV), but once he left, no other solution was offered, and GTV remains a mystery.

#1 CM Punk

Punk left the WWE after the 2014 Royal Rumble

In 2006, a young CM Punk joined the WWE, appearing on its ECW brand, and instantly became a star.

The biggest star to come from the company's third brand, it wouldn't be long until Punk held championship gold, winning the ECW Title the next year.

In 2014 though, after a long career which had seen Punk hold the WWE Championship for an incredible 434 days, Punk walked out, citing issues with how he was being treated.

As one of the company's most popular stars, many fans instantly sided with Punk, making the WWE look bad.

The company looked even worse when the Straight Edge Superstar claimed that Dr. Chris Amann had encouraged him to compete whilst injured.

Though (most) fans have moved on from Punk now, five years later, his leaving definitely made the sports entertainment juggernaut look bad.