Michaels joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and the Hall of Famer says he was shocked with 27-year-old Paul's performance at WrestleMania 38.

"I saw him at WrestleMania and just thought he did a fantastic job," Michaels said. "I was honestly like everybody else at 'Mania, a fan, and I thought he did a heckuva job."

Logan, a big fan of the Heartbreak Kid, expressed interest in training with the legendary wrestler ... and on Thursday the men finally got together at the WWE Performance Center in Florida.

"Just getting a chance to speak with him, clearly, he's a bright young man," Shawn says, adding, "He's fully committed to what he does, and certainly fully committed to this, and I appreciate that."

Physically, Michaels was also impressed ... "[Logan's] clearly athletic as heck. So he's naturally gifted in a lot of areas."

And, because Logan was such a good student, Shawn had a blast.

"It was a heckuva lot of fun. I thought it was incredibly productive. I will say I'm someone who knows of him, but didn't know too much about him, but I've come to appreciate and like him quite a bit cause again he's very passionate about this and committed, and again, when you got that kind of moldable clay to work with, it's really fun."

As far as working together in the future, Shawn says he's open and willing to train Logan again.

"Our performance center down here will be open to him anytime, and if there's anything I can do to help him," Michaels says.