Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon Has Quickly Become Most Explosive Feud in WWE

On a foundation of fury and family, WWE has built a tremendous feud in Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon. 

There is no rivalry more personal on WWE TV right now. KO and the SmackDown commissioner are drowning in bad blood. And the story of their accelerating hatred has been a hit from moment one.

Owens' bloodlust for McMahon comes from a logical place.

He feels that Shane-O-Mac's officiating twice cost him the United States Championship. In a way, he's right, with McMahon was out of position during one of Owens' bouts against AJ Styles. But he was out of position because Owens clocked him in the face.

And while McMahon entering a second title bout as a referee midway through the action caused a key distraction for the challenger, Owens fails to mention that the official missed KO hitting Styles with a low blow that took him off his feet.

As misguided and irrational as Owens is, his motivations make perfect sense.

He wants revenge for McMahon's part in him not being U.S. champ right now. The Prizefighter blames his failures on his boss and has become obsessed, an angry bull seeing on the red cloth waving in the air.

Throughout this tale, WWE has done well to follow up each big moment with another, making things more intense at each stage.

Owens antagonized McMahon to the point that the commissioner whaled on him. KO responded by smashing his father Vince McMahon into the canvas.

Each of those scenes was memorable, violent and electric. And more are on their way. Owens doesn't face McMahon inside the Hell in a Cell until the pay-per-view of that same name on Oct. 8.

The Devil's Playground will both showcase McMahon's fearless, daredevil style and Owens' aggressiveness. It promises to be a brutal bit of theater.

Until then, there's time to escalate the rivals' animosity as we saw on Tuesday's SmackDown.

This time out, things remained verbal. McMahon promised to take Owens to hell. KO turned what began as an apology into a peek into his twisted mind.

"You made me want to obliterate your father because in my mind I was obliterating you," Owens explained.

Again, the Owens-McMahon story was the high point of SmackDown. Jake Barnett of ProWrestling.net wrote: "It was pretty clear how much more interesting the Owens angle is than the rest of the show."

Credit Owens for creating a good chunk of that interest. He's been at the top of his game as a snarling predator intent on vengeance. He has made the most of every opportunity throughout this narrative, looking like an absolute star in the process.

Add the image of a man's father on his knees howling in pain as blood drips from his head. Add a smart, efficient story. Add a steel enclosure that is the perfect place for this rivalry to climax.

The sum of it all is a feud that is whirring, that is WWE drama at its finest.