As others said, this era isn't the only one where the rating was PG. There was the 80's boom (termed the Rock 'N Wrestling Era) and the New Generation in the mid-90's. I think those eras are a better comparison since there's obviously gonna be a little more similarities (like the way Cena is the modern day Hogan and whatnot.) Otherwise, the Attitude Era easily defeats these last 4-5 years. Reasons why:
-The most exciting and electric and rapid crowds were during the Attitude Era. People back then popped for everything, even the mid carders like Val Venis, Al Snow and The Godfather. Whereas it's not unusual today for people to give only average reactions for the main eventers or during the big moments.
-JR and Jerry Lawler were in their prime as one of the greatest commentary duos that ever existed. Sure, Lawler sucks today, but him and JR back then were a fresh and very compatible duo that played off each other perfectly.
-The weekly shows were better. This was mostly due to the nature of the Monday Night Wars, where both shows were on at the same time and in a battle for ratings dominance, both WWF and WCW were throwing everything at the wall in order to garner more eyes to their show, and the shows benefited greatly from it. I do agree with Mustafar that a lot of the stuff back then was garbage and doesn't really hold up well today but all of that was mostly contained in 1999, when the Shock TV and Crash TV segments were out of control. But that year still had so many great moments worth remembering as well (Austin becoming CEO and dumping horse/cow shit in Vince's office, Austin saving Stephanie from the black wedding, Austin giving Rock/Vince/Shane the beer bath, the Ministry visiting Vince's house, Mankind and Triple H winning their first world titles, Rock knocking Austin into the river and then holding a faux sort of funeral for him, etc.)
-Great characters. Stone Cold as the bad ass, anti-authority redneck, The Rock as an arrogant asshole who always referred to himself in the third person, Vince's Mr. McMahon character that was the epitome of the asshole, tyrannical boss, Undertaker going from being a walking zombie to being a Satanic-like cult leader of sorts, D-Generation X telling people to Suck It, Kane as Taker's physically/mentally scarred brother, the three faces of Mick Foley - the mentally and emotionally scarred Mankind, the psychedelic hipster Dude Love, the hardcore Cactus Jack, HHH becoming "The Game" and "The Cerebral Assassin", Val Venis being a porn star and telling jokes filled with sexual innuendo (which I always found pretty clever), etc.
-Great story lines. Austin vs Bret Hart and later the entire Hart Foundation, Austin vs Vince and the system, Austin/Rock, Corporation/Ministry, D-X feuding with The Nation and the Corporation, Rock and HHH's IC Title feud (kinda goes along with the previous mention), Stephanie betraying her dad and siding with Triple H, the McMahon/Helmsley era, etc. The Hell In A Cell match was also invented during this era, as was a few other gimmick matches.
-The wrestling was really the only thing about it that is inferior to today. But that really isn't as big of a deal to me as it is for others. Sure, pure WRESTLING matches are better today, pound for pound. But for me, when I watch wrestling, I just wanna see two guys fight. Sure, there'll be wrestling moves involved but it's all about the fight atmosphere to me. Doesn't matter if it's technical wrestling, smash mouthed style wrestling, high flying, brawling, a mixture of two or more, etc. I want characters that have conflicts built up between them and then I want to see them go at it in some sort of competitive match that entertains me. And the AE still did that.
