I think there's a difference in reflecting fondly on a bygone era, pining for a suitable replacement to fill the void... and refusing to let go of the past and constantly shitting on things that don't fit your preference. That's the main distinction I'd make.
I also think there are a lot of fans of the Attitude Era in particular who will never be into wrestling the way they were in the 90s regardless, who just shit on modern wrestling out of some "my generation was better" cornyness. I see it a lot with music too. Rap music, especially. People who basically only ever liked Eminem back when they were in high school who love to trash modern rappers any opportunity they get - even though if they were actually fans of rap and not washed up jabronies they'd discover that there are probably more talented rappers than ever out there right now, if they were willing to look and keep an open mind. But that's a whole side tangent
I don't agree with this logic, some things in the past are just better, it's not simply the old man yelling at the clouds
I do think however its impossible to not be biased, I think its hard wired into human nature to be biased
Our experiences shape us and how we view things, I grew up with the attitude era, it came at the perfect time for me
So being someone that actually lived through it, I can say honestly and I will die on the largest hill that the attitude era is a billion times better than the modern product we get today
I just got done watching some random raw on cockpea and its insane how over the mid card guys were
Fucking val venis was getting bigger pops that a guy like cody rhodes can only dream of
So as someone that enjoyed the raunchness and just batshit crazy crash tv from back then, I hate what modern pro wrestling has turned to
Its mostly just a bunch of work rate geeks who can perform the in ring gymnastics well, but have the personality of a paintbrush
I just don't get the appeal of the modern product, its a fucking chore to sit through the weekly shows, even aew and tna are boring asf to watch, so there truly is no alternative for lapsed ae fans