nobody really liked Lee until he was introduced as the struggling character, basically thats what he'll be doing for the rest of the series.
Even if hes healed his injury will force him to cut back on training (unless some cheesy explaination is given like - oh look hes as good as new)
You wont be seeing him open gates anymore unless Kishimoto wants to kill him off completely so basically everything that most Lee fans liked about Lee's fighting style he shouldnt be able to do again. (Lotus's are self damaging and would cause even greater damage on Lee)

people hope that he comes back and kicks ass again and its just not realistic especially with the condition Lee is in, even if he is healed completely he'll be weaker from the experience not stronger, people dont just recover from sugery straight away. Even if the surgery is a success he'll have to recover for about 6 months or so till he can start to fight again and do you really think the plots going to focus on him for all that ? its just easier to keep him as the struggler storyline wise.

as for the most anticipated fight i would have to say Orochimaru vs Itachi would be good to watch. Some people are scared of spiders, doesnt mean they cant kill them.