Yep. Johns was on his way to doing a great job of revamping Cheetah into a serious threat. The fact that other writers ignored that and went back to treating her like crap is their failing, not the character's.
New 52 Cheetah's first appearance saw her as a woman evil enough to enslave a god living inside her. A god who is supposed to be a force for good, no less. She slashed Wonder Woman's throat and left her lying defeated at her feet. She attacked the Justice League and took Superman and the Flash out of the fight with one bite each. Heck, she didn't take them out of the fight, she drafted them into joining HER side in the fight. She took a flying punch from Diana and appeared just fine.
You could honestly make a good argument that Cheetah could have possibly won that fight against the League. She didn't win because she didn't WANT to win. She allowed the League to take her prisoner because that was part of the plan for Forever Evil.
Go ahead and tell me Killer Croc or Killer Moth could've EVER done that well.
Now, with Rebirth, it remains to be seen what Cheetah's status will be. But Johns proved that it is MORE that possible to revamp Cheetah into a truly frightening and powerful foe who can actually menace Justice League.