Is it unpopular to think the Ruthless Aggression Era was better than the Attitude Era?

[Aztecwarrior480]

Let's think about it for a moment. While the Attitude Era introduced a lot of legends like The Rock and Stone Cold, the AE wasn't as great as many people make it out to be. A lot of edgy and epic things you see in the Attitude Era were ideas that were partially stolen from ECW/Paul Heyman. The wrestling matches rarely ever lasts long or rarely were ever 5 star matches. The Light Heavyweight or Cruiserweight talents were pretty much almost completely non-existent(Sure, the AE era had X-Pac and Taka Michinoku for the Light Heavyweight division but X-Pac had to ride on the coattails of the Kliq, DX, NWO and sometimes Kane to stay relevant during his whole entire WWE/F run while Taka Michinoku is ignored and immediately completely forgotten after he left the WWE/F) and the majority of the women wrestlers(with the exception of Ivory, Luna Vachon and Jacqueline) were nothing but eye-candy, with Sable being the most over women in WWE/F at the time, which speaks volume for how the Attitude era(and the Ruthless Aggression Era as well) never cared for legit women wrestlers who actually knew how to wrestle. Sure, the Attitude era had Chyna but she was never that good of a wrestler to begin(and according many wrestlers who worked with her, was toxic and wreckless) with and wrestled with men during the vast majority of her entire wrestling career and never cared for putting a single woman wrestler over

The Ruthless Aggression era, on the other hand, introduced us the Cruiserweight weight division(and even made some of them main eventers), had more 5 star wrestling matches, made hard-working, more deserving yet overlooked wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit World Champions. Gave us the Smackdown Six. The women wrestlers were still mostly eye candy but the main faces of women's wrestling during this era at least were mainly women with some to a lot of wrestling abilities(Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, Jazz and Molly Holly). The storylines during this era weren't as chessy and too over-the-top like the AE storylines were.

 

[Asuka Lock]

I prefer Ruthless aggression because the wrestling mattered more than the gimmicks mostly for the same reason's I love NXT so much,

Because it was a showcase for the talent and the good workers while the big guys weren't focused on unless they could go

 

[Wrasslemaniac]

Interesting question. I think the thing about the atitude era is that it made wrestling cool and reslly brought it into mainstream society. I work with guys who dont watch or like wrestling but they can tell me all about watching stone cold guzzle a crate of beer on a monday night (or friday night rather as we would have to wait until friday to see raw over here).

In terms of which one was better. I lapsed during ths ruthless agression era. I cant really say why but perhaps it was the storylines. I probably didnt feel like i had to watch every week so i just watched ppvs now and again and then stopped whereas during the attitude era i had to watch every week in case i missed something.

So is it unpopular to say ruthless was better than attitude. I guess it depends on your outlook on wwe during those times but flr me i would say no as i lapsed a few times during the ruthless aggression era purely because i was less interested in tuning in each week

 

[Crash]

I prefer the attitude era and wcw/nwo era better because it represents my childhood, but I agree that the Ruthless Aggression era was better wrestling wise and had a better roster.

 

[edge4ever]

I feel that in terms of just entertainment, the attitude era was much better. It took something basic and made it rich and fun. And it single handedly saved WWE. I wish the ruthless era had more free flow like they did back then.

The ruthless era has better overall wrestling and a crazy talent pool now. It keeps things interesting.

They both have their strengths and weaknesses and I honestly don't have a favorite.

 

[Solidus1]

Not as much as it used to be. I still prefer the AE myself.

 

[Zardnaar]

Only saw the very early AE (1997) back in the day and watching it now.

It has not aged well. The best parts are great, most of it is average.

 

[SWL]

When you compare eras like that it always comes down to what you have the fondest memory of. I didn't watch during the attitude era so it's a pretty dead time for me. Obviously I can appreciate it for that it has done for the business but as far as for personal preference I'd always go with ruthless aggression over attitude simply because that's what got me into it.

So don't look at it as unpopular, it's just personal opinions and what you watched and genuinely enjoyed. In 2 decades or less people will probably view our current era as their "fond memory" of the good old days and defend it on wrestling forums