Fans always decide the champion
Simply put, no. I would never say that fans ALWAYS decide the champion; however, I do feel they play a big part in who is champion more often than not.
Look at guys like Jeff Hardy for example. It’s arguable that he became champion mainly because of the fans. He is one of the most popular superstars in the company right now, and no doubt sells a ton of merchandise too. So while he was only champion for around a month, I firmly believe he was champion at all because the fans essentially decided he should be. They cheered him no matter what, they bought his merchandise, and they made Vince money in the process.
Then there is the other side of this, where fans decide a champion who is a heel. If a heel is out there generating so much heat that fans will pay to see someone they like beat the hell out of him and take the title, then that is going to make money too. Then if the heel retains his belt, fans will continue to hate him when he enters another feud with someone else they would pay to see try and beat the champion.
So when the fans get firmly behind someone, whether they love or hate them, if Vince can see a potential money making opportunity by putting the title on them and essentially giving the fans what they want, then there is no doubt he will do it, and has done it in the part.
But as I stated at the beginning, I don’t believe that fans ALWAYS decide the champion.
The best example of this would be The Great Khali winning the WHC. He wasn’t over with the crowd at all, he was barely getting any responses in his matches, yet he still won the belt. At the time, numerous top stars on SD were injured, and they needed someone to place the belt on. They had other talent, who WERE over with the crowd, who the fans would have MUCH preferred to carry the belt, but instead they threw it on Khali and did their best to make him the big heel champion that people would pay money to see get beat. I don’t quite think it worked out like that though, as this was more of a case of the fans simply wanted the belt off him, but didn’t care if they saw the match or not.
With all of that said, my stand on this statement is that the fans DO decide who is champion some of the time. If Vince can make money from it, he will agree with the fans and do what they want him to do. However, sometimes it seems Vince doesn’t give a damn what the fans want and who they want as champion, and just goes with whoever HE wants, and hopes everything will work out.