'Stone Cold' Steve Austin has said that he's unsure whether the recent return of CM Punk to WWE programming will result in a match for the Best in the World. 

Punk, who appeared on WWE Backstage last week after a near-six year absence from the company, drew huge ratings for the show, which did just 49,000 viewers in its first week. 

For comparison, this week's episode drew 180,000 viewers, including the Texas Rattlesnake, who spoke about Punk on the State of Combat podcast. He said: 

“I don’t know if it leads to anything more, I guess speculation, to be determined, we’ll find out. Just the fact that he’s returned to be doing business with WWE, I love, because I don’t know, they split up on bad terms, and now they’re back in business together. 

CM Punk was a lights out pro-wrestler, great promos, great work, great talent, so to have him back in the fold, obviously, I guess they ironed out whatever they need to iron out, and both sides are happy. It’s great to have CM Punk back in the pro-wrestling/sports entertainment business. It’s a breath of fresh air because the guy brings a great perspective, great insight, and great opinion on all things sports entertainment."

Punk's deal means he is working for FOX, not WWE, but many fans have speculated on a match for the former WWE World Champion in the not-so-distant future.