Jim Carrey said it right in Man on the Moon, everybody loves a villain. Having a guy at the top of the card that people absolutely love to hate is going to keep people watching. It doesn't matter what form of media it is, the desire to see the bad guy taken off his throne will always be there. This instinct will never change regardless of how much your product evolves. Now the reasons we despise those villains is going to differ from fan to fan but if you draw on the qualities that make them unlikeable, then you found a recipe for success. Look at Dixie Carters most recent run as the authority figure in TNA and why people disliked that. It's simple. She was a terrible performer and spent far too much time on the air. So instead of trying to hide her flaws, why not play to those attributes and make them a visible part of her character for people to see. If you embrace her awfulness, it will give fans a genuine reason to dislike her character instead of actually hating her as a person.
