I became a wrestling fan as a kid right before WrestleMania 2, and followed the WWF throughout the rest of the Golden Era. As a young fan, two things stuck out to me as we entered 1993 and 1994.
1) The superhuman superstars (i.e. steroid-ladden physiques) were now gone. No more Ultimate Warriors, Hulk Hogans, Hercules, Kerry Von Erich, Warlords, or Sid Justices. Even Macho Man went from a wrestler who wore trunks to a cartoon character in a full body costume. The new wrestlers were either complete cartoons - Doink - or guys who would have been jobbers in the past were now "superstars". Nondescript guys like Kwang or Thurman Plugg.
And the tag-team wrestlers of the 1980s - Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels - were now billed as the elite of the promotion.
2) The promotion began to seem increasingly minor league. WWF used to tape Superstars in basketball sized arenas in front of 12 - 15 thousand people. By the summer of 1994, the shows were taping in community centers and high schools. The former was expansive and brightly lit, the latter in dark but small venues filled with a thick haze.
These crowd shots show the comparison:
February 1990:
August 1994:
Here's video of the same periods:
At this point for any of you watching at the time, how much downhill did you feel that the WWF was heading?