The Attitude Era turned the WWE into something bigger than professional wrestling, becoming a cultural phenomenon.

With stars like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and The Undertaker - to name a few - anchoring their shows, the company had perhaps its most diverse and talented group of top-tier performers. 

Paired up with the edgy risks the WWE took, both in the ring and in the script, and it bridged a gap they couldn't have dreamed of in the past. The brand is bigger than ever, though, and Sheamus opened up about his thoughts on how the current product compares. 

Sheamus was asked why the WWE is better than ever in a question during an interview he did with The Sun to promote RAW's Payback pay-per-view. His response was a bit surprising.

"The level of athleticism has evolved so much since we watched as kids. The athletes that WWE has now are far superior to anything that we had the 1980s or the 1990s. You look back at the Attitude Era and the level of entertainment we put in the ring now.

"The Attitude Era doesn't even come close. I'm not afraid to say that either. You watch some of the stuff Cesaro does in the ring; with his size, the way he moves around the ring, the moves he hits, the way he picks up guys twice his size. It's just a different level," Sheamus explained. 

That's quite a bit to chew on from Sheamus, who's going to upset a lot of fans who hold the Attitude Era dear to their hearts. He may have a point, though. 

The actual in-ring wrestling is a very different thing than it used to be. The emphasis on the in-ring aspect of sports entertainment has only gotten larger over the last few decades. While Stone Cold may have been one of the biggest and baddest personalities ever, he wasn't the kind of in-ring technician that generates buzz these days. 

The rise of talents like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Finn Balor and the like were proof that the in-ring abilities of being able to carry a great match means more to fans now than it ever did then. The definition of "entertainment" was very different back then, though. 

Perhaps it'd be best to say they're both great eras of WWE but for different reasons. Like anything, professional wrestling is always evolving, as is the taste of the fans that fuel it.