Having a dominant heel people root against doesnt have the same impact if that person isn't champion. Take a look at some of the most recent examples of a character drawing heat and more often than not he held the title. From Y2J to Lashley to every John Cena reign, there was a reason to root against them. How about Bobby Roodes title run from October 2011 to July 2012. Every single month he found another under handed way to escape with the title. Aside from kicking an aging RVD down a ladder at Sacrifice, out of the 7 pay per views Roode defended at during his reign, the only other one that could be considered a clean win, is when James Storm super kicked him through the steel cage at Lockdown. This was very similar to the run JBL had on SmackDown from the summer of 2004 until WrestleMania 21. The only difference there, is there was some legitimate heat on JBL being champion because he was an undeserving champion at the time, no matter how thin the roster was. While Roode did things like pull tights and hit Sting with a beer bottle, JBL went from the mild, having Orlando Jordan defend his title for him. To the moderate, being choke slammed through the ring to victory. To the ridiculously absurd, having Heidenreich appear from a limo to use chloroform to incapacitate The Undertaker and retain the title. Whether you have underhanded heels like Roode and JBL, or more dominant champions like Lashley and Brock Lesnar, people want to see the villains get whats coming to them and there is no better way to represent that, than by losing the ultimate prize.
