History Main / XPacHeat

* In perhaps a cruel twist of fate, Rhodes' opponent in his final AEW match, Wrestling/SammyGuevara has since become a major recipient of X-Pac Heat after Rhodes departed for WWE. When AEW started, Guevara had initially been a member as part of the heel stable The Wrestling/InnerCircle, alongside Wrestling/ChrisJericho, and was effective enough in receiving the 'good' kind of heat from the fans. Over time, Guevara would eventually turn face, and during his pursuit of the TNT Championship, initially received great reactions from the fans, thanks to his outstanding, "no-fear" ring work. However, not long after defeating Rhodes in a highly praised ladder match to regain the title, fans began to sour HARD on Guevara, thanks to a confusing and dull feud with Scorpio Sky that saw his real-life relationship with Tay Conti (later known as Tay Melo) be acknowledged on-screen. The problem is that while fans acknowledge that he's a tremendous athlete, capable of putting on some of the best matches in AEW, Sammy did not come off as a likable face in the slightest during the storyline, acting like a petulant jerk to his opponents and constantly making out with Tay. Combined with hot-potato'ing the TNT Championship with Sky, and even running an angle where it was heavily implied that Tay and Sammy ''made love while wearing the championship'', it's no wonder that Dan Lambert is once again being ''cheered'' over the two. The heat had gotten so bad that AEW had to edit the crowd reaction for an episode of Rampage, where both Sammy and Tay were apparently getting booed out of the building. By the end of April, AEW made the decision to turn Sammy back into a heel and play into these dislikable elements. But shortly after, Sammy was once again placed into [[Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety a stable with Jericho]], showcasing just how far he’d fallen as a viable entity on his own (to say nothing about Tay, who now mainly exists to be a shallow heel manager to Sammy, despite being a competent in-ring talent in her own right.[[note]]Sammy and Tay got married in August 2022 (which is why she changed her name, "Conti" is he ex-husband's last name, "Melo" is her mother's surname) and in May of 2023 announced they were expecting a child, so Tay's in-ring career is on hold until some point in 2024 at the earliest.[[/note]])

* In perhaps a cruel twist of fate, Rhodes' opponent in his final AEW match, Wrestling/SammyGuevara has since become a major recipient of X-Pac Heat after Rhodes departed for WWE. When AEW started, Guevara had initially been a member as part of the heel stable The Wrestling/InnerCircle, alongside Wrestling/ChrisJericho, and was effective enough in receiving the 'good' kind of heat from the fans. Over time, Guevara would eventually turn face, and during his pursuit of the TNT Championship, initially received great reactions from the fans, thanks to his outstanding, "no-fear" ring work. However, not long after defeating Rhodes in a highly praised ladder match to regain the title, fans began to sour HARD on Guevara, thanks to a confusing and dull feud with Scorpio Sky that saw his real-life relationship with Tay Conti (later known as Tay Melo) be acknowledged on-screen. The problem is that while fans acknowledge that he's a tremendous athlete, capable of putting on some of the best matches in AEW, Sammy did not come off as a likable face in the slightest during the storyline, acting like a petulant jerk to his opponents and constantly making out with Tay. Combined with hot-potato'ing the TNT Championship with Sky, and even running an angle where it was heavily implied that Tay and Sammy ''made love while wearing the championship'', it's no wonder that Dan Lambert is once again being ''cheered'' over the two. The heat had gotten so bad that AEW had to edit the crowd reaction for an episode of Rampage, where both Sammy and Tay were apparently getting booed out of the building. By the end of April, AEW made the decision to turn Sammy back into a heel and play into these dislikable elements. But shortly after, Sammy was once again placed into [[Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety a stable with Jericho]], showcasing just how far he’d fallen as a viable entity on his own (to say nothing about Tay, who now mainly exists to be a shallow heel manager to Sammy, despite being a competent in-ring talent in her own right[[note]]Sammy and Tay got married in August 2022 (which is why she changed her name, "Conti" is he ex-husband's last name, "Melo" is her legal middle name) and in May of 2023 announced they were expecting a child, so Tay's in-ring career is on hold until some point in 2024 at the earliest[[/note]]).

* Ever since rape allegations were made against him, Gable Steveson's reception with the fans has nosedived. Case in point, at ''NXT The Great American Bash 2023'' where he made his in-ring debut against fellow X-Pac Heat recipient Baron Corbin [[note]]Who to be fair has been in the middle of rebuilding his career and has been earning back the respect of fans[[/note]], the crowd ''cheered'' for Corbin while Steveson received chants such as "Gable Sucks" and "You're not Angle."

* Poor Dominik Mysterio. Perhaps his run as just Rey's son was viewed as Rocky Maivia 2.0, so he turns heel. Suddenly, he becomes a pathetic DirtyCoward who can't win a match clean, rips off Wrestling/EddieGuerrero [[note]] He uses his signature Frog Splash as his finisher and also the Three Amigos as one of his signature moves and his {{Kayfabe}} relationship with Wrestling/RheaRipley is a rehash of the one Eddie had with Wrestling/{{Chyna}} back in 2000, down to calling her "Mami" (short for "Mamacita"). True, Eddie was essentially an honorary uncle to him so it could be considered more of a tribute or homage. [[/note]] and then has a storyline where he goes to "prison" and starts acting like a parody of what WWE Creative thinks a hardened criminal is like. To give some perspective, his {{Kayfabe}} [[Wrestling/RheaRipley "girlfriend"]] is massively over despite being a heel and the other members of the Judgment Day are at least LoveToHate. Dom? He gets Wrestling/VickieGuerrero -level boos ''just coming out'' and loud boos and chants whenever he opens his mouth for a promo.

* Poor Dominik Mysterio. Perhaps his run as just Rey's son was viewed as Rocky Maivia 2.0, so he turns heel. Suddenly, he becomes a pathetic DirtyCoward who can't win a match clean, rips off Wrestling/EddieGuerrero [[note]] He uses his signature Frog Splash as his finisher and also the Three Amigos as one of his signature moves and his {{Kayfabe}} relationship with Wrestlin/RheaRipley is a rehash of the one Eddie had with Chyna back in 2000, down to calling her "Mami" (short for "Mamacita"). True, Eddie was essentially an honorary uncle to him so it could be considered more of a tribute or homage. [[/note]] and then has a storyline where he goes to "prison" and starts acting like a parody of what WWE Creative thinks a hardened criminal is like. To give some perspective, his {{Kayfabe}} [[Wrestling/RheaRipley "girlfriend"]] is massively over despite being a heel and the other members of the Judgment Day are at least LoveToHate. Dom? He gets Wrestling/VickieGuerrero -level boos ''just coming out'' and loud boos and chants whenever he opens his mouth for a promo.

** Stephanie's bad heat goes all the way back to the early 2000s, starting with her involvement with the badly botched Wrestling/TheInvasionAngle, which brought this kind of heat on the whole [=McMahon=] family[[note]]She also didn't do herself any favors by giving an interview shortly after the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11th attacks]] where she compared them to her father's steroid trial, something a few fans still haven't forgotten about[[/note]]. But while Vince can skate by because he's the one who is putting on the show, and fans are quick to forgive Shane because he's willing to take insane bumps for our entertainment[[note]]At least until the debacle at the 2022 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'', listed below in the 2020s folder[[/note]], Stephanie is seen as really bringing nothing positive to the table. Then there's Triple H's "Reign of Terror" in the mid-00s where he was being smashed over the entire roster despite fans having long been sick of him. Stephanie gets blamed for this and rightly so, even if you ignore the obvious Main/{{Nepotism}}, Stephanie was ''Head of Creative'' at the time, a position she held for over a decade. Which means she also gets blamed for everything else that was rotten during this time period, which is somewhat unfair as most of the '''[[Horrible/{{WWE}} really terrible]]''' stuff (like Katie Vick) came directly from Vince. Still, Stephanie is absolutely despised in the [[Main/SmartMark smart fan/"IWC" community]], mainly for her work backstage rather than anything she's done on camera.

* Wrestling/JinderMahal in mid-2017. Back when he was booked as a jobber on a regular basis, most notably when he was a member of the [[Wrestling/ThreeMB 3MB]] stable, fans didn't mind Mahal so much. Upon his return in 2016, his in-ring skills had moderately improved, but [[FlatCharacter his character did not]]. He resumed his status as a bonafide jobber before he eventually became a lackey and tag team partner for Wrestling/{{Rusev|AndLana}} for a while. This all changed after [=WrestleMania=] 33, where Mahal was moved to ''[=SmackDown=]'' during the Superstar Shake-up between the brands, upon which he [[FromNobodyToNightmare suddenly upset then-WWE Champion Randy Orton at Backlash in May to obtain the belt]], which he held onto for ''nearly six months''. Mahal's mega push ''could have worked'' if it was given the proper amount of time and buildup. Additionally, Mahal shifted his character to a by-the-book [[ForeignWrestlingHeel foreign heel]] that failed to captivate audiences while continuing to work mediocre matches, which further discredited his sudden elevation. This caused WWE's TV ratings and ticket sales to plummet even further than they already were. It didn't help that he regularly scored victories over beloved wrestlers such as Wrestling/LukeHarper, Wrestling/SamiZayn and Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura, almost halting their pushes in the process. Perhaps worst of all though, nearly all of Mahal’s matches ended with a screwy finish, typically involving his two henchmen, the Singh Brothers, interfering and causing enough of a distraction that Mahal was able to capitalize, ensuring Mahal never got over cleanly and proving that he was only winning because he was cheating. It's worth noting that Mahal didn't get much personal hate, as he was both humble and grateful for the opportunity, but as Website/{{WrestleCrap}} pointed out, according to the numbers, he ''didn't even draw in India'', which was one of the main reasons why he was given the belt in the first place.

* Any time a wrestler develops a PeripheryDemographic, they run the risk of turning into one of these. Promoters ''love'' wrestlers who can draw in from a periphery demographic because it gets eyes and attention on the promotion that wouldn't usually be there. They then push the wrestler in question to make sure they're always there drawing in the periphery demographic. The main demographic will in turn begin resenting the wrestler, feeling their push is undeserved and because [[FanHater the periphery demographic annoys them]]. The classic example of this is Jeff Hardy and [[EstrogenBrigade his popularity with teenage girls]].[[note]]As noted in his entry in the Ring of Honor section.[[/note]] This is also another reason why Roman Reigns was hated because female fans love him [[MrFanservice for obvious reasons]]. Another periphery may be a country that isn't usually interested, but can be if there's a wrestler from the country. A great example of this is the aforementioned Great Khali, who the WWE was using to broaden their appeal in India.

* The 2014 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' and the "Road to ''Wrestling/WrestleMania''" were crapped on repeatedly when part timer Batista came back and won the Rumble, being set to feud with Wrestling/RandyOrton, who had not been truly been over as either a heel or face for years. At the same time this was going on, [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] was white hot with the crowd via the "Yes Movement". CM Punk quitting the company eventually led to a rewrite that saw Bryan enter a match against Triple H to gain entry into the [=WrestleMania=] main event, which he won.
** The Royal Rumble reaction was particularly jarring for the company as it took place in Pittsburgh, which is a city that has a historical reputation for quiet/passive crowds. The intensity of the anger was more akin to something you'd see in cross state Philly.

* In perhaps a cruel twist of fate, Rhodes' opponent in his final AEW match, Wrestling/SammyGuevara has since become a major recipient of X-Pac Heat after Rhodes departed for WWE. When AEW started, Guevara had initially been a member as part of the heel stable The Wrestling/InnerCircle, alongside Wrestling/ChrisJericho, and was effective enough in receiving the 'good' kind of heat from the fans. Over time, Guevara would eventually turn face, and during his pursuit of the TNT Championship, initially received great reactions from the fans, thanks to his outstanding, "no-fear" ring work. However, not long after defeating Rhodes in a highly praised ladder match to regain the title, fans began to sour HARD on Guevara, thanks to a confusing and dull feud with Scorpio Sky that saw his real-life relationship with Tay Conti (later known as Tay Melo) be acknowledged on-screen. The problem is that while fans acknowledge that he's a tremendous athlete, capable of putting on some of the best matches in AEW, Sammy did not come off as a likable face in the slightest during the storyline, acting like a petulant jerk to his opponents and constantly making out with Tay. Combined with hot-potato'ing the TNT Championship with Sky, and even running an angle where it was heavily implied that Tay and Sammy ''made love while wearing the championship'', it's no wonder that Dan Lambert is once again being ''cheered'' over the two. The heat had gotten so bad that AEW had to edit the crowd reaction for an episode of Rampage, where both Sammy and Tay were apparently getting booed out of the building. By the end of April, AEW made the decision to turn Sammy back into a heel and play into these dislikable elements. But shortly after, Sammy was once again placed into [[Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety a stable with Jericho]], showcasing just how far he’d fallen as a viable entity on his own (to say nothing about Tay, who now mainly exists to be a shallow heel manager to Sammy, despite being a competent in-ring talent in her own right).

* Despite the hype of her debut, her popularity in UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship, and her putting an excellent debut match at ''[=WrestleMania=] 34'', fans begin to turn on Wrestling/RondaRousey for her poor attitude (despite presenting as a face) and mic skills, being booked as an InvincibleHero and inserted into the championship card on her second match, making every other women in the locker room look bad. It gets worse when there are rumors of her being scheduled to face Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, another controversial woman, at the next Mania, which doesn't sit well with fans. Much like Charlotte's feud with Wrestling/BeckyLynch, the most popular ''wrestler'' in the company at the time, WWE tried to make Ronda the face of their three-way feud, despite Ronda's attitude. After ''35'', Ronda wouldn't appear again until 2022 as the 30th entrant at the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' and winning the match. Fans are of course not happy with this, especially when Ronda chooses to face Charlotte for the [=SmackDown=] title instead of Becky's Raw title. Their match on the first night of [=WrestleMania=] 38 is generally the lowest rating of an otherwise amazing night. Things gets worse when Ronda recaptured the title from fan-favourite Wrestling/LivMorgan, essentially burying any good reception she has from the fans. It got so bad that when Charlotte return after a prolong leave of absence and defeat Ronda for the title, after Ronda's match against Raquel Rodríguez, fans ''cheer'' for Charlotte over Ronda, despite such feat will have the person receiving a nucear heat.
** When Wrestling/ShaynaBaszler betrayed Ronda by attacking her at ''[[Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank Money In The Bank 2023]]'', costing them the tag titles, the crowd ''cheered'' Shayna.

* During WWE's infamous "Rosie O'Donnell" vs. "Donald Trump" match, fans got so sick of what they were seeing, ''they chanted for TNA instead''. WWE takes videos of the match down when it finds them, but for now, the full match can be viewed [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5tcer_donald-trump-vs-rosie-o-donnell_sport here.]] "BORING" chants start at 6:30, "TNA" is at 7:20, and "WE WANT WRESTLING" is at 8:20.

* Wrestling/CharlotteFlair is probably the biggest CreatorsPet in modern wrestling, likely even bigger than Roman Reigns, who was once considered her SpearCounterpart. While she is a great athlete who has been widely praised for her in-ring ability, her main issue stems over the fact that WWE is '''very''' obviously playing favorites with her. Having constantly been given title matches and reigns year after year, she had become a thirteen-time champion on the main roster by the fall of 2021[[note]]The gap between her father's first and thirteenth world titles was a little over 14 years. Charlotte did it in 6. [[SarcasmMode Who says titles bounce around too much these days?]][[/note]] (nearly twice more than Trish Stratus, with seven). It doesn't help that she is highly protected by the company and [[InvincibleVillain is rarely pinned or submitted in any matches.]] If there's a chance someone defeats her for the championship, that person's reign will be short-lived as Charlotte will reclaim the title (or win one on a different brand) in the weeks shortly after. Many fans have perceived Charlotte to be legitimately stubborn and arrogant not only due to constantly defeating nearly every opponent she's encountered on the main roster (which in turn makes the rest of the women's division look weak and expendable) but also for rarely acknowledging in real-life just how overpushed she is.

* Despite the hype of her debut, her popularity in UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship, and her putting an excellent debut match at ''[=WrestleMania=] 34'', fans begin to turn on Wrestling/RondaRousey for her poor attitude (despite presenting as a face) and mic skills, being booked as an InvincibleHero and inserted into the championship card on her second match, making every other women in the locker room look bad. It gets worse when there are rumors of her being scheduled to face Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, another controversial women, at the next Mania, which doesn't stick well with fans. Much like Charlotte's feud with Wrestling/BeckyLynch, the most popular ''wrestler'' in the company at the time, WWE tried to make Ronda the face of their three-way feud, despite Ronda's attitude. After ''35'', Ronda wouldn't appear again until 2022 as the 30th entrant at the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' and winning the match. This doesn't sti well with fans, especially when she chose to face Charlotte for the [=SmackDown=] title instead of Becky. Their match on the first night of [=WrestleMania=] 38 is generally the lowest rating of an otherwise amazing night. Things gets worse when Ronda recaptured the title from fan-favourite Wrestling/LivMorgan, essentially burying any good reception from the fans. It got so bad that when Charlotte return after a prolong leave of absence and defeat Ronda for the title, after Ronda's match against Raquel Rodríguez, fans ''cheer'' for Charlotte over Ronda, despite such feat will have the person receiving a nucear heat.

** Stephanie's case of X-Pac Heat is getting so bad it's starting to damage the company itself. A wrestling news site reported that in meetings with WWE stockholders, she has to open by informing them that she is only playing a character on TV and she won't act that way with them, and several outside media interviews as well as some of her own tweets show her doing exactly that in public view. Basically, she has to constantly take a dump on {{Kayfabe}} to keep from hurting WWE's PR and finances.[[note]]Stephanie resigned from the company and more or less retired in 2022, shortly after her father muscled his way back onto the board of directors. WWE was sold to Endeavor Holdings Group (the parent company of UsefulNotes/{{UFC}}) in April 2023, with Vince being named a vice president of that company and given full control over [=WWE's=] day-to-day operations, though Triple H is doing the actual booking, with Wrestling/ShawnMichaels running [=NXT's=] creative.[[/note]]

** Stephanie's bad heat goes all the way back to the early 2000s, starting with her involvement with the badly botched Wrestling/TheInvasionAngle, which brought this kind of heat on the whole [=McMahon=] family[[note]]She also didn't do herself any favors by giving an interview shortly after the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11th attacks]] where she compared them to her father's steroid trial, something a few fans still haven't forgotten about[[/note]]. But while Vince can skate by because he's the one who is putting on the show, and fans are quick to forgive Shane because he's willing to take insane bumps for our entertainment[[note]]At least until the debacle at the 2022 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble''[[/note]], Stephanie is seen as really bringing nothing positive to the table. Then there's Triple H's "Reign of Terror" in the mid-00s where he was being smashed over the entire roster despite fans having long been sick of him. Stephanie gets blamed for this and rightly so, even if you ignore the obvious Main/{{Nepotism}}, Stephanie was ''Head of Creative'' at the time, a position she held for over a decade. Which means she also gets blamed for everything else that was rotten during this time period, which is somewhat unfair as most of the '''[[Horrible/{{WWE}} really terrible]]''' stuff (like Katie Vick) came directly from Vince. Still, Stephanie is absolutely despised in the [[Main/SmartMark smart fan/"IWC" community]], mainly for her work backstage rather than anything she's done on camera.

** Stephanie's bad heat goes all the way back to the early 2000s, starting with her involvement with the badly botched Wrestling/TheInvasionAngle, which brought this kind of heat on the whole [=McMahon=] family. But while Vince can skate by because he's the one who is putting on the show, and fans are quick to forgive Shane because he's willing to take insane bumps for our entertainment[[note]]At least until the debacle at the 2022 ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble''[[/note]], Stephanie is seen as really bringing nothing positive to the table. Then there's Triple H's "Reign of Terror" in the mid-00s where he was being smashed over the entire roster despite fans having long been sick of him. Stephanie gets blamed for this and rightly so, even if you ignore the obvious Main/{{Nepotism}}, Stephanie was ''Head of Creative'' at the time. Which means she also gets blamed for everything else that was rotten during this time period, which is somewhat unfair as most of the '''[[Horrible/{{WWE}} really terrible]]''' stuff (like Katie Vick) came directly from Vince.

** Stephanie's case of X-Pac Heat is getting so bad it's starting to damage the company itself. A wrestling news site reported that in meetings with WWE stockholders, she has to open by informing them that she is only playing a character on TV and she won't act that way with them, and several outside media interviews as well as some of her own tweets show her doing exactly that in public view. Basically, she has to constantly take a dump on {{Kayfabe}} to keep from hurting WWE's PR and finances.

* Jaxson Ryker spent the vast majority of his run receiving this kind of heat from the crowd, but following the events of the January 6th Capitol riot, he would take to Twitter to voice his support of then President Donald Trump, while inserting The Forgotten Sons’ catchphrase (Forgotten No More) in as a hashtag. Naturally, fans and fellow wrestlers alike saw the gesture as disrespectful and called him out on it, quickly leading to the stable being quickly taken off of television.

* Long after the fact, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, and former WWE and later TNA referee Earl Hebner received [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob "YOU SCREWED BRET!"]] chants whenever they appeared in Canada, and it's probably one reason why they don't appear in Montreal very much even when they do go to Canada. In all fairness, they ''did'' screw Wrestling/BretHart. Whenever Michaels needed some heel heat, [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcflzf_who-s-your-daddy-montreal-raw-08-15_sport Montreal was a perfect place to get it.]] This heat has mostly died down, however, due to Hart making amends with both Michaels and Vince in 2010.

* The trope namer had a stablemate named Justin Credible who suffered the same fate. In Wrestling/{{ECW}}, he was pushed as a solid ex-jobber who was "actually very skilled", though his workrate was artificially inflated by giving him good workers to wrestle with. Eventually, as one of the last reasonably big names in the company, he got the ECW World Title, which resulted in ''massive'' overexposure. Even his former fans began seeing him as a mediocre worker with a terrible look and bad mic skills, and X-Pac Heat resulted.[[note]]He had a catchphrase and a fake "angry voice" that involved him hissing his words out in a loud whisper all the time.[[/note]] ECW died shortly after his title win[[note]]It's generally acknowledged today that the only reason he got the title is because Wrestling/PaulHeyman knew that neither WCW or the WWF wanted anything to do with him, so this way he didn't have to worry about anyone pulling a Wrestling/MikeAwesome and trying to take off to Atlanta with the belt[[/note]] and he promptly got similar reactions during his second stint in the WWF/E. It got so bad that some fans even blamed him for the death of ECW. He retired from wrestling, and got a job as the overnight stock manager at a Target superstore in New Jersey. After working there for a while, he got back into wrestling and, though confined to the independents, got a [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap respectable level of popularity]].

* When Wrestling/{{Lita}} cheated on Wrestling/MattHardy with Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}, both Lita and Edge were showered with legitimate anger from the fans. This only intensified after Vince [=McMahon=] fired ''Hardy'' [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong for complaining about the situation online]]. Their respective storylines had to be scrapped, and Lita was forced to turn heel. Edge, a natural heel, was able to turn the X-Pac Heat into regular heel heat relatively quickly, and Hardy getting re-hired calmed things down a lot. Lita did not get the fans' approval back so easily; she was still showered with boos and vicious insults for the next year-plus later, and actually quit wrestling entirely partially because of it. However, she was [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments well received when she made a one night return in 2007]], and ''very'' well received when she returned for the 1000th episode of ''Raw'' when she performed her infamous moonsault on Wrestling/HeathSlater. During the latter, she was referenced as a legendary Diva, a far cry from [[SlutShaming another four-letter word she was once referred to as]]. Fans were also genuinely happy when she made the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014, not to mention her in-ring return in 2018 at both the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' and the women-only PPV ''Evolution'', so hindsight has erased a lot of the tarnish in her case.

By Survivor Series 2018, WWE's writers seemed to be aiming to invoke this by having her gloat about breaking Lynch's face and revelling in the boos, which ended up reaching Ciampa or Reigns levels of heat that night, while also boasting her elimination of Asuka from the match just to spite them some more. The weeks that followed saw Jax become one of the most [[TheScrappy disliked people]] on the ''Raw'' brand. Many people turned on Jax, mainly due to the realization that her in-ring ability paled significantly in comparison to the other women on the roster, as well as the ''dreadful'' mic work she had done prior to her second match with Ronda Rousey. No one batted an eye when it was revealed that due to an injury exacerbated at [=WrestleMania=] 35, Jax would be gone for the rest of 2019. She would finally be cut loose for good in 2021, supposedly for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine[[note]]Which would basically limit her to shows in the U.S.[[/note]] (though this has never been confirmed).

* By the end of Wrestling/JeffJarrett's last run as Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA Champion in TNA in 2006, fans were pleading with him to "Drop the title! Drop the title!" and it had gotten so bad that even his WCW tenure ended up being harshly vilified when he had done no worse than several others in the promotion that could be named. There were even chants of "Fuck you, Jarrett! Fuck you, Jarrett!" Jarrett was truly hated by TNA fans for good reasons--during the first four years, he held the NWA Championship for the better part of ''three'' of them. Occasionally, he would lose at a pay-per-view, only to win the title back at the very next show, leading fans to see the title as meaningless, since it had just become a prop for Jarrett. In ''every'' match he had at the time, he resorted to running into the crowd. To make matters worse, Jarrett was more than just the CreatorsPet--as one of the founders of TNA, ''he was the creator''. It was almost as if he helped build TNA just so he can make himself the champion.[[note]]Jim Cornette had a bit of an explanation as to why this happens: If you put the belt on yourself you never have to worry about your champ no-showing or leaving with the belt, and you never have to worry about him holding you up for more money. With Jarrett it was mostly ego, but being secure in the knowledge that the TNA title wouldn't be showing up on ''Raw'' was also a factor, especially early on.[[/note]] It's no wonder some fans started calling him "[[FanNickname Triple J]]".

* Wrestling/EnzoAndCass got this from the very moment they showed up in Ring Of Honor. WWE had been actively raiding the ROH roster for over a year by that point, giving those in the Honor Nation who hadn't been following the wrestlers to NXT a decidely anti WWE attitude and even those who did follow their favorites to NXT considered Enzo and Cass in particular to be hasbeens unworthy of ROH. Even fans who did not keep up with WWE happenings and had little clue who they were hated them immediately on principal for distracting them from the always anticipated Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi, and that sentiment seemed to extend beyond the fanbase and into Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling itself, who were not informed of Enzo and Cass's arrival. This perceieved attempt to get two "unknowns" over at one of their biggest star's expense without telling them beforehand, much less getting approval, had NJPW threatening to cut out ROH as the middleman and run its own USA shows independently[[note]]This eventually did happen, and later led to ROH's collapse and sale to AEW's Tony Khan in 2022[[/note]], which in turn to that had fans who wanted New Japan Wrestlers to keep showing up on ROH cards [[ShootTheMessenger even angrier with Enzo and Cass]].

* Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys most popular members are Big Dick, Little Spike, Devon, Bubba Ray, with Big Dick not being as well known to people who only watched WWE/TNA(or HUSTLE/New Japan), but when The Dudley Boys were first baby faces in ECW, Bubba Ray wasn't liked at all. Wrestling/PaulHeyman tried to hide the fact the crowds were deriding Bubba Ray through {{astroturf}}ing, but once the fans held out a bedsheet with "BUBBA MUST DIE" written across[[note]]Wrestling podcaster Brian Last, best known as the co-host of two podcasts with Wrestling/JimCornette (The Jim Cornette Experience and Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru), claims to be the one who made the sign and one of the poeple holding it[[/note]], too wide for the camera to completely hide, it was time for a FaceHeelTurn. That did [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap save Bubba Ray in the eyes of the fans]], however, and later lead to him become one of the four most popular.

* A particularly significant example came during the Mabel-Savio Vega tournament final at WWF ''Wrestling/KingOfTheRing 1995'', which was held in [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], the heartland of Wrestling/{{ECW}}. This at a time when that promotion was at its hottest. The crowd was ''decidedly'' displeased with the tournament, which saw then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWF World Tag Team Champion]] Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, that year's Royal Rumble winner Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, ''and'' Wrestling/TheUndertaker all get eliminated. By the time Mabel and Savio Vega faced off in the finals, Philadelphia finally started chanting "ECW! ECW! ECW!" in protest and Mabel had trash thrown at him by the crowd during his coronation. [[AnAesop The lesson? Don't go into Philadelphia with a terrible show.]][[note]]How terrible? Over 25 years later this is still near universally considered the worst PPV that the WWF/E has ever produced. Fans seemed to know this going in because the buyrate absolutely tanked and when all was said and done this show lost money for the WWF (ticket sales were also pretty weak and the show was heavily comped), it was basically the wrestling equivalent of a BoxOfficeBomb[[/note]]
* ''Wrestling/DecemberToDismember'' 2006, the first and ''only'' pay per view exclusive to WWE's rebooted ECW brand. Said brand had its share of problems, such as the phasing out of ECW originals like Wrestling/{{Sabu}} and [[Wrestling/JimFullington The Sandman]], the stricter WWE rules, the untimely suspension of the first champion of the new ECW, Wrestling/RobVanDam, the sudden release of Wrestling/KurtAngle due to substance abuse, and everything that happened with the late Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. Not to mention that it quickly became a C-show to ''Raw'' and ''[=SmackDown=]''. But ''December to Dismember'', held in Augusta, Georgia, was rock bottom for the roster. The undercard had a skeleton crew of perennial midcarders and no-names like Sylvester Terkay[[note]]a legit fighter who had been big in Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1 when it was big and pushed hard in OVW but WWE made sure he'd never get over again by [[CharacterDerailment repackaging]] him as a white Wrestling/{{Umaga}} on their main roster[[/note]], Kevin Thorn and Mike Knox, plus a pre-commentary Matt Striker going against one of the few ECW originals on the show, Wrestling/BallsMahoney. [[Wrestling/MattHardy Matt]] and Wrestling/JeffHardy versus MNM was inexplicably added despite neither team being on this roster. And then Sabu was taken out backstage and replaced in the main event with ''[[Wrestling/BobHolly Hardcore Holly]]'',[[note]]Some explanation. Rumor has it that WWE viewed Sabu as being "useless" and Vince [=McMahon=] himself wanted Hardcore Holly to replace Sabu in the match for Lashley to have more villains to overcome.[[/note]] and the fans saw right through it. Thus, Holly joined Wrestling/CMPunk, Van Dam, Wrestling/BobbyLashley, Wrestling/TheBigShow and ''Wrestling/{{Test}}'' in the Extreme Elimination Chamber main event. Punk had quickly gotten a huge fandom in WWE, so of course he was first eliminated, to a huge negative response. By the end, amidst "BULLSHIT" and "BORING" chants, it was Lashley, an obvious CreatorsPet at the time, going over The Big Show to win the ECW title. By then, the Augusta crowd had long turned on the show, sometimes literally. The result was what fans called "the death of ECW," and the aftermath saw Wrestling/PaulHeyman leaving the company, a ''fraction'' of the usual pay-per-view buyrate[[note]]This show holds the dubious honor of having the lowest WWE PPV buyrate ''ever'' prior to the introduction of the WWE Network, which made PPV obsolete for anyone with a broadband internet connection[[/note]], WWE ending single-brand pay-per-views for eleven years, and the brand slowly dying.

** When he debuted, Cena didn't really have a gimmick, except perhaps "ruthless aggresssion", and fans were pretty apathetic towards Cena. Then, on a Halloween episode of ''[=SmackDown=]'', WWE decided to run with a joke impression he did as Music/VanillaIce, which eventually gave Cena a rapper gimmick and turned him into the Doctor of Thuganomics, which was very over. Then came his first world championship win at [=WrestleMania 21=] in a bad match against [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield JBL]], [[NeverLiveItDown where a lot of people became convinced that Cena just couldn't wrestle]]. While still popular upon his move to ''Raw'', his feuds with Wrestling/{{Christian}},[[note]]Who many fans were expecting to be elevated to the main event scene.[[/note]] Wrestling/ChrisJericho, and Wrestling/KurtAngle, three major Fan Favorites in the [=IWC=], where he [[SquashMatch easily went through them]] were the last straw, causing Cena's X-Pac Heat to really take off. It didn't help that Christian and Jericho would be gone from WWE not too long after, making it seem like he ran them off. Also not helping matters was his abandonment of the Thuganomics gimmick, which if nothing else had been a good source of legitimately funny smack talk whenever Cena cut a promo, replaced by an '80s-style babyface with a gimmick similar to Wrestling/HulkHogan of an all-American hero. Cena's matches also became rather generic, with most amounting to him getting beat up the entire time before suddenly [[HeroicSecondWind "overcoming the odds"]] with his FiveMovesOfDoom. The X-Pac Heat died down for a while, but never completely disappeared. A 2006 interview had Cena himself saying he'd rather drop down the card and redevelop his character, but wasn't being allowed to. The X-Pac Heat rose once again after he became the top star of WWE. The way WWE booked almost every single one of his feuding opponents since then only served to fuel the sentiment even further.

* If you can find the single match the Toxic Turtles had in WWE (it never aired on television and WWE takes videos of it down from Youtube when they find it), you can pinpoint an exact moment X Pac Heat kicks in. During their entrance and early in the match, the Turtles, who are playing the faces, are getting very mild cheers. Then comes a spot where one of their jobber opponents kicks out of a pin and the turtle pinning him lands on his back and flails around until his partner tips him back over. This spot turned the fans against the Turtles on the spot, and they booed for the rest of the match.

* In a mix of this and NeverLiveItDown, Terry Taylor would often get "ROOSTER" chants wherever he wrestled after his oft-maligned WWF run in the early 1990s as the Red Rooster.

By Survivor Series 2018, WWE's writers seemed to be aiming to invoke this by having her gloat about breaking Lynch's face and revelling in the boos, which ended up reaching Ciampa or Reigns levels of heat that night, while also boasting her elimination of Asuka from the match just to spite them some more. The weeks that followed saw Jax become one of the most [[TheScrappy disliked people]] on the ''Raw'' brand. Many people turned on Jax, mainly due to the realization that her in-ring ability paled significantly in comparison to the other women on the roster, as well as the ''dreadful'' mic work she had done prior to her second match with Ronda Rousey. No one batted an eye when it was revealed that due to an injury exacerbated at [=WrestleMania=] 35, Jax would be gone for the rest of 2019. She would finally be cut loose for good in 2021, supposedly for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine[[note]]Which would basically limit her to shows in the U.S.[[/note]] (though this has never been confirmed despite her adding fuel to the fire with various conspiracy focused statements on the subject.)

** However, as of 2022, Reigns has fallen back into being hated. The issue now is that Reigns has continually beaten everyone who could conceivably be a threat to his title run, which, due to poor booking choices, has resulted in him holding both titles for three months and only making one defense in that entire time, severely devaluing both titles. In addition, fans have begun to grow bored of his gimmick. That said, it's not considered his fault this time, as he is still working at top rate and gets massive cheers when allowed to go off on the microphone. The problem is that Vince, just before his retirement, booked the world titles into a corner where it is going to be very difficult to take them off Roman by someone the fans will accept. Thankfully for Roman, this issue is mostly alleviated by the addition of Wrestling/SamiZayn into The Bloodline storyline that breathed a new life into the group. While fans agreed that it would be hard to take the two world titles off from Roman, Sami's inclusion created a fascinating new dynamic for the stable that allowed Roman (and everyone else in The Bloodline) to become more developed and three-dimensional once again, with an added bonus of creating one of the most captivating storylines WWE has had in ''years''. By the time the 2023 ''Royal Rumble'' came around, the reaction that Roman got when he mercilessly beat down Sami after Sami turned on Roman for his post-match beatdown on Wrestling/KevinOwens suggests that Roman had gained the good kind of heat from the fans once more.

** A particularly egregious example of just how bad things where for Brock was when he was in Wrestling/{{New Japan|ProWrestling}} He was awarded a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Title in just his second match for the promotion, and left the promotion months later, with the physical IWGP heavyweight Belt/Third Belt in his possession. He was so hated for this that when the IWGP plays the Champions Roll call video prior to championship matches. The normaly stoic fans boo when Brock's picture shows up, as well as his Nameplate not being on the Banzuke Sideplates.

** However, as of 2022, Reigns has fallen back into being hated. The issue now is that Reigns has continually beaten everyone who could conceivably be a threat to his title run, which, due to poor booking choices, has resulted in him holding both titles for three months and only making one defense in that entire time, severely devaluing both titles. In addition, fans have begun to grow bored of his gimmick. That said it's not considered his fault this time, as he is still working at top rate and gets massive cheers when allowed to go off on the microphone. The problem is that Vince, just before his retirement, booked the world titles into a corner where it is going to be very difficult to take them off Roman by someone the fans will accept.

X-Pac Heat can occur because the performer has been [[CreatorsPet pushed too hard]], they have [[WagTheDirector political power behind the scenes]], or because they're terrible performers. For wrestlers, this often refers to those who have poor matches, or actively wreck the pushes of others, and become overexposed despite crowds not caring for them one way or the other, regardless if they're a face or a heel. This is not a villain whom fans [[LoveToHate want to see punished]]; a wrestler with X-Pac Heat is someone fans don't want to see ''at all''. It's a very specific form of breaking {{kayfabe}} by the fans and happens to be quite rare.

* Blake and Murphy, who won the NXT tag team championships by complete surprise from the crowd pleasing Lucha Dragons on a regular episode of NXT. Despite their later addition of Alexa Bliss, they were largely treated with apathy from the NXT faithful at the time even long after they lost the titles. Alexa would go on to the main roster and be positioned as a mainstay in WWE programming, while the other two would meaninglessly break up before having their match interrupted as a part of a long running storyline with Samoa Joe. While Murphy would end up being Main/RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap due to his well received move to 205 Live and then the main roster, Blake would unfortunately be hitched to YET ANOTHER recipiant of XPacHeat in The Forgotten Sons. It’s notable that when NXT attempted this type of quick switch again with The Revival, they actually built them up first beforehand.

To some, it got worse as she ended up turning heel and aligning with Wrestling/TaminaSnuka, who a) was never really that over to begin with, b) is the daughter of [[Wrestling/JimmySnuka a man]] that many consider even more checkered than Wrestling/HulkHogan even after his death, and c) despite not having competed in over a year, ended up on the women's Survivor Series team in favor of far better and more popular superstars like Wrestling/EmberMoon, Bayley and Sasha Banks. As if that wasn't enough, when Wrestling/BeckyLynch led an invasion of Raw and attacked Creator/RondaRousey, Jax was among those who defended Raw but ended up delivering a stiff punch to Lynch's face that left the latter bleeding. Initially seen as great for the run-off to Survivor Series, Lynch was legitimately too injured to compete, thus depriving fans of [[Main/CoolVersusAwesome Rousey vs. Lynch, a match they were hotly anticipating]]. Quickly inciting a ''massive'' fan backlash, many called for Jax to be sent back down to NXT or even fired due to her already spotty record of injuring other superstars. Not helped by how much like Roman Reigns, many see her push and staying on the roster as doing [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] [[{{Nepotism}} a favor]], but unlike Reigns, who at least had some moments where fans got behind him (and, after his 2020 heel turn, might be escaping X-Pac Heat for good), she can't seem to shake the X-Pac Heat off no matter what she does.\\

* A particularly significant example came during the Mabel-Savio Vega tournament final at WWF ''Wrestling/KingOfTheRing 1995'', which was held in [[UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], the heartland of Wrestling/{{ECW}}. This at a time when that promotion was at its hottest. The crowd was ''decidedly'' displeased with the tournament, which saw then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWF World Tag Team Champion]] Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, that year's Royal Rumble winner Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, ''and'' Wrestling/TheUndertaker all get eliminated. By the time Mabel and Savio Vega faced off in the finals, Philadelphia finally started chanting "ECW! ECW! ECW!" in protest and Mabel had trash thrown at him by the crowd during his coronation. [[AnAesop The lesson? Don't go into Philadelphia with a terrible show.]][[note]]How terrible? Over 25 years later this is still near universally considered the worst PPV that the WWF/E has ever produced. Fans seemed to know this going in because the buyrate absolutely tanked and when all was said and done this show lost money for the WWF (ticket sales were also pretty weak and the show was heavily comped), it was basically the wrestling equivalent of a Main/BoxOfficeBomb[[/note]]

** The third was at the 2014 ''Royal Rumble'', and wasn't Mysterio's fault per se. The fans wanted to see Daniel Bryan in the Rumble, and when Mysterio came out at #30, he ended up being the recipient of the vitriol of the pissed off fans. The sad thing is it's likely that WWE realized whoever came out at #30 was going to anger the fans, and they chose Rey for it because they thought he might be able to still get cheered.[[note]]Fans still wax poetic about a Main/WhatCouldHaveBeen here, the basic idea being that Wrestling/WadeBarrett gets the #30 spot, spouting his "I'm afraid I've got some BAD NEWS!" catchphrase (possibly after playing the first few notes of Bryan's entrance music before cutting it off). This would have got absolutely ''nuclear'' heel heat from the crowd. But Vince decided to send one of his biggest merch movers to get booed out of the building instead.[[/note]]

* Wrestling/CharlotteFlair is probably the biggest CreatorsPet in modern wrestling, likely even bigger than Roman Reigns, who was once considered her SpearCounterpart. While she is a great athlete who has been widely praised for her in-ring ability, her main issue stems over the fact that WWE is '''very''' obviously playing favorites with her. Having constantly been given title matches and reigns year after year, she had become a thirteen-time champion on the main roster by the fall of 2021[[note]]The gap between her father's first and thirteenth world titles was a little over 14 years. Charlotte did it in 6. [[Main/SarcasmMode Who says titles bounce around too much these days?]][[/note]] (nearly twice more than Trish Stratus, with seven). It doesn't help that she is highly protected by the company and [[InvincibleVillain is rarely pinned or submitted in any matches.]] If there's a chance someone defeats her for the championship, that person's reign will be short-lived as Charlotte will reclaim the title (or win one on a different brand) in the weeks shortly after. Many fans have perceived Charlotte to be legitimately stubborn and arrogant not only due to constantly defeating nearly every opponent she's encountered on the main roster (which in turn makes the rest of the women's division look weak and expendable) but also for rarely acknowledging in real-life just how overpushed she is.
** While she'd actually been on the verge of getting it off-and-on ever since her debut on the main roster, she generally kept ahead of it through solid in-ring performances. Some fans started to turn against Charlotte when she ended Asuka's massive winning streak at [=WrestleMania=] 34 but the criticism wouldn't finally boil over until she won the [=SmackDown=] Women's Championship at Wrestling/SummerSlam 2018 (becoming a seven-time champion in the process). Many fans became incredibly frustrated that she was once again in the title picture after so many reigns, along with the fact that Wrestling/BeckyLynch (a massive EnsembleDarkHorse who had been expected to finally win back the championship after nearly two years) was once again screwed out of a title reign. When Becky turned on Charlotte after the match, she was outright cheered, while Charlotte received enormous boos. In the ensuing feud, the more arrogantly heel-ish Becky was booked to act, such as demanding that Charlotte call her queen and put the title belt around her waist, ''the more the crowd cheers''. It seems that Charlotte's X-Pac Heat and WWE's questionable booking had, [[AchievementsInIgnorance completely by accident]], transformed Becky Lynch from a standard face into a Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin style AntiHero who could do and say almost anything and still get cheered for it, while Charlotte could act like the nicest, most proper face and get booed. It almost became worse after Becky Lynch's injury prevented her from facing Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series and Charlotte was chosen over Asuka to square off with the Raw Women's Champion, seemingly undoing their months-long blood feud. Come Survivor Series, she was briefly put [[Main/RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap back in the fans' good graces]] with her not only putting up an ''excellent'' outing against Rousey, but [[Main/FaceHeelTurn absolutely decimating Rousey in the post match]], [[Main/RootingForTheEmpire with the fans actually being on her side despite all the boos they've been giving over the past few months]].

** While on TNA, at the tail end of 2019, he basically no-sold Wrestling/JohnMorrison's finisher (though he stayed down for the 3 count, at least) and then immediately popped up Main/FlippingTheBird to TNA booker Wrestling/DonCallis, who was in the crowd. On live PPV.