After being threatened with legal action the previous week on SmackDown, Kevin Owens did the honorable thing and invited Logan Paul onto his semi-regular WWE talk show, The KO Show, to hash things out like men, or at least like WWE Superstars.

And guess what? I was shockingly cordial, with the duo talking nicely, complementing each other's work, and just generally representing the best WWE has to offer… just kidding; Paul took the show off the rails as soon as he made his way down to the ring, and things divulged pretty quickly into a war of words, with KO boldly declaring that Owens is nothing like the real Superstars he came up with like Rey Mysterio.

Fortunately, this was exactly the sort of reaction Paul was looking for as, after sharing a video package from his first-ever WrestleMania, he lambasted Owens for even putting the duo into the same category of entertainer.

“Thank god I’m nothing like y’all, Kevin. And I don’t wanna be one of y’all. I’m one of one,” Logan Paul responded. “Let me remind you, I’m a purveyor of viral media, the greatest storyteller of a generation. Your son’s favorite superstar marketing expert. Your girlfiend’s celebrity crush, multi-hyphenate disruptor. Entrepreneur, innovator, actor, wrestler, boxer, the list goes on and on. Often imitated, never duplicated. Billionaire, with a ‘b,’ on paper. I am the ‘Maverick,’ Kevin Owens, Logan Paul. And you, I mean, you just, you.”

Taken aback by Paul's comments, KO responded, reminding the “Maverick” why he's in the position he is at the moment.

“Well, look, I don’t know what any of that meant. But I did.. (crowd chants ‘Logan sucks'). Look I’ve heard everything you’ve had to say about me on commentary the last few weeks. All the putdowns about my weight, the way I look, everything. And here’s the thing: You can come out and say anything you want about me, but I, I can’t come out here and say everything I want about you. In fact, there’s a lot I can’t talk about. And you know why,” Kevin Owens announced.

“It’s the same reason that you’re the United States Champion right now. It’s because you are protected. You are sheltered. The second you came into WWE, you were offered all the tools you could ever need to hopefully win a title. And I get it, why? Because of the notoriety and the attention you bring. And now, look at this, to your credit again, you use the tools and you became United States Champion. You did that, and now you get to say for the rest of your life that at one point, you were the WWE United States Champion. And that’s great for you, but as far as I’m concerned, and as far as everybody watching’s concerned, that is a joke. And it’s a joke that’s been going on for far too long, and I’m putting an end to that joke at the Royal Rumble!”

Oh snap, who expected KO to drag Paul to arguably the momentous, compelling angle on the entire Royal Rumble card, with the potential for a title change higher than seemingly any other match on the entire show? But wait, it gets better, as Paul wasn't quite done with Owens just yet, much to the chagrin of the “Prize Fighter” himself.

Kevin Owens believes he has a key advantage over Logan Paul.

With the crowd going wild over what turned out to be one of the best segments of the night, Logan Paul tried to play it cool, even though his face made it clear that being called a protected deeply wounded him, shooting back at Kevin Owens and accusing him of using outside forces – in his case a cast – to get ahead.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening to any of that,” Logan Paul said. “You wanna talk about protected? That’s funny. The hypocrisy is stunning. Look at your arm. Your arm is protected. You got a weapon on your hand, Kevin. And the only reason that you were able to knock me down is because of that cast. But me? Buddy, I knock people out clean. In fact, all the guys, all the guys you named earlier, I knocked them all out. One by one. Dominos, A, B, C, D, so like I said, Kevin Owens, it’s only gonna take me one second to KO you, KO. Okay?”

“Look man,” Kevin Owens responded, “as unimpressive as you think I might be, here’s the thing: all these people that have been watching WWE for the last almost ten years, they know, that I, I can take more punishment than anyone and get back up. I have been slammed harder, been punched better, and fallen off higher stuff than anybody, and I got back up every time. So let me tell you this: There isn’t a punch that you can throw that can keep me down for three seconds, let alone knock me out.”

Dang, while fans weren't afforded much more talking between the tandem, as things quickly broke down into a brawl that resulted in KO's arm being brutalized by the “Maverick,” it looks like the time for talking between the two is over, and at the Royal Rumble, fans will get to see which philosophy reigns supreme: hard work or social media hype.