When did WWF pick up the pace?

This might be a little offensive over here, but bear with me!

I started with wwe after WM 18 (first draft). Great pacing, smooth, so easy to watch. individual characters (even lower midcarders) getting more resources for their storylines, not just upper carders, AND most importantly the work rate was fantastic.

But then I really wanted to watch the real WWF attitude era and It was great. But I just ran through a lot of it (from 1997 to 1999)) in a short amount of time and just got a little burned out on the product, but I don't want to take a break, and I don't want to jump past the WWF era.

I don't want to miss out on a lot, but I really want to watch something more like 2002. Where's the sweet spot?