Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the best in-ring workers in WWE history, but he believes in-ring work in WWE today has regressed.

Certainly, as WWE has transitioned from pure wrestling towards being a sports entertainment brand, in-ring work isn't held on the same pedestal on all shows and by all superstars.

Speaking on The Steve Austin Show, Austin explained that he believes actual ring work has declined in recent years, as performers are out working with little experience.

He said, via Wrestling Inc: "There's a lot of demand for new people in the business, so sometimes they're not as honed up as they need to be, so you see a lot of holes out there.

"It's not an indictment on the system or anybody because you still have your veterans out there doing a lot of solid work and people doing athletic things and that's cool, but the work - the work - has regressed as things have sped up, just as far as being able to see through the illusion."

Stone Cold is not a fan of inexperienced professional wrestlers using bumping as a way to get noticed, as he believes bumping without a good reason is pointless.

He said; "When you're green, you think bumping is the ticket. 'I've got to bump a lot because that's what's going to elicit a response,' or 'taking bumps is the ticket,' or 'that's the way to do it.' Eh, it's a means to an end and there needs to be a reason that you're taking all those bumps."

When it comes to the biggest mistakes a green professional wrestler can make, The Texas Rattlesnake believes these are going too fast and bumping too much.

Austin said: "The biggest mistake that green guys make is doing things too fast. Maybe the second one would be taking too many bumps.

"Nobody goes out there and wants to give the bumps, they want to take them! And you know because you're on the receiving end, you think, 'ah, I'm impressing people by how I'm flying around.' Bumps are great when they're needed."

Austin certainly raises an interesting talking point about the state of in-ring work in today's WWE.