This makes me think about the whole Daniel Bryan situation, which is somewhat of an opposite case. Worth looking into, Daniel Bryan is an example of when the fans love someone but management actively tries to suppress that person -- to the point where the fans practically revolted and demanded they respect him, which eventually forced the WWE to make concessions and give Daniel Bryan the WWE championship, because of just how much the fans loved him (and how much he deserved it, frankly.)

While everyone knows wrestling is scripted, what made it so fascinating to me as a former wrestling fan was how the storyline clashed with real life, as it was clear Daniel Bryan was actively getting screwed over by management because of the precious "story" that management wanted to tell, a storyline which was incredibly boring that the audience was more than sick of by that point, and everyone agreed Daniel Bryan deserved a chance.