To pass time on the morning commute, I popped on Austin's podcast with Russo. Somewhere in the ramblings of a Grand Central Station homeless panhandler, there was a point made about how wrestling matches in the Attitude Era (and wrestling in Japan today) came across to the viewer as a fight. An actual fight.
Whereas today, American wrestling feelings like Cirque du Soleil or ballet: a choreographed performance piece filled with stunts and tricks.
And the argument being that it's much better when it's "sloppier" if they're portraying a fight than a "cleaner" style of wrestling that comes off like a dance routine.*
I think the homeless guy is right.
*with one wacky lunatic of a notable exception