Chris Jericho believes the remarkable concentration of genuine main event drawing power helped make WWE's Attitude Era stand apart from modern professional wrestling.

Speaking during an interview with The Sportster, Jericho reflected on why wrestling from the late 1990s and early 2000s continues to hold such a prominent place in the memories of fans decades later.

While Jericho acknowledged that today's wrestling industry features plenty of talented performers, he believes the major difference is the sheer number of wrestlers from that period who could legitimately be considered proven headline attractions.

Jericho also placed the era alongside the wrestling boom that followed WWE's national expansion during the 1980s and the current period as three of the most significant eras for professional wrestling in North America.

“I think the biggest difference between this era and that era, and I think if you throw in the 86 expansion, those are probably your three biggest eras for pro wrestling in North America,” Jericho said. “I think what made , let’s say we want to call it the Attitude Era, although it was kind of a little bit maybe the Ruthless Aggression, whatever you want to call it , when I got to the WWE, there were legit, I’d say, 12 legit top-drawing main event stars. Not just guys who worked in the main event, top draws. [The] Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Mankind, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and that’s just off the top of [my head]. Kane, there’s nine right there off the top of my head without even really thinking too much about it, and there’s probably three or four others that I could throw in there. Big Show , there’s 10 right there.”

For Jericho, simply appearing in main events is different from becoming the type of performer capable of attracting audiences and developing an iconic status that survives long after an era has ended.

He believes that distinction is particularly noticeable when looking back at WWE's roster from that time, with many of its biggest personalities remaining instantly recognisable to wrestling audiences today.

“There’s a lot of great talent in wrestling today, but main event stars, main event draws, main event, like, almost iconic characters that are still super popular today because of that timeframe , we don’t have that now. You have a lot more eyeballs on it, maybe, because of platforms and streaming. But if you look at the main event names then, they can’t be touched. So that’s probably why that era is so critically acclaimed and so positively remembered, because of just the name value of those stars that were all there at the same time.”

Jericho's comments come as he continues making media appearances to promote "Vietslam: Squashing the Cultural Gap," a documentary he produced exploring Vietnam's developing professional wrestling scene.

The documentary focuses on Vietnam Pro Wrestling and the growth of wrestling within the country. Jericho himself has a connection to the promotion after making a surprise appearance at one of its events in 2023.