Wrestling gave people something to "root for" or even more typically American, villains to "root against"..
Sports is all about heroes and villains like Greek story telling.. Peyton Manning was their hero, Seahawks become the villain (hero loses so the game is called "boring").. Tim Duncan was their hero, Lebron James was the villain (people still have the nerve to say the Spurs could have won when Games 6 and 7 clearly proved otherwise
)