You're right that people look back on this era with rose tinted lenses. Likely because it's when many of them became fans but I call a spade a spade. I mean I started watching back when Brutus The Barber Beefcake used to get huge pops and I have no problem shitting on the wacker elements of the golden era. Not back then as a kid and certainly not in retrospect. most of Wrestlemania IV and Virgil being allowed to cut promos on ppv's.
Same with the new generation era. I mean I pretty much hated WM 9 and 11 from the moment they first aired. There was a lot of filler around in the Attitude Era not to the extent of today mind you but when you mentioned Val Venis it brought back to memory another gem from '99. "I choppy your pee pee" smh. Seriously 1999 was the worst year of that decade in WWF history since 1995. Not even 1996 with the shitty failed HBK babyface run with Jose Lothario in Shawn's corner had as much blandness and this was after Razor Ramon (one of my top 3 at the time) straight up bounced and the face of the company (Shawn) was playing a role he obviously was uncomfortable with.
