If I never saw Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Stephanie McMahon at one of these premium live events ever again, I would be over the moon.

This year’s SummerSlam lived up to the moniker of being “the biggest party of the summer,” with fantastic matches left and right, back to back, across the board. For the most part, SummerSlam was electrifying, and after every match, you were left wanting more, more, more. This was a *wrestling* show, through and through, with bodyslams harmonizing with the raucous cheers of fans to fill out MetLife Stadium’s huge, outdoor arena.

SummerSlam featured some of WWE’s finest bodies of in-ring work, so can the people who no longer wrestle kindly step aside?

Listen, I get why they showed up. I know why Levesque and McMahon thought themselves justified in inserting themselves into the card. I know they’ve paid their dues — Levesque obviously, but McMahon has ran the ropes and knows this business like the back of her hand. I understand why they would want to come out, and I can appreciate their past contributions to justify their appearances on the broadcast, in that ring. That doesn’t mean I like it (and this is Love/Hate, not Love/I’m ambivalent about it).

Levesque and McMahon (less Levesque, and more McMahon) have been taking up a lot of WWE broadcasting time recently, and for someone whose work primarily is behind the scenes (as he loves to remind us through his selfies with champions in gorilla position), Levesque and McMahon have been showing up in front of cameras quite a lot. For Levesque’s show opener, it makes sense — hype up the crowd, spit your water, and get those nostalgia clicks. For McMahon’s mid-show segment, though, it’s more nonsensical (pointless) — why dedicate minutes of a broadcast announcing gate numbers when you could easily do it on social media? Via commentary? Via the post-show? What reason was there for McMahon to take to the ring other than to deliver an ego boost? In a card that featured so much great wrestling, she felt like the little sibling you had to take when you went out with your friends to appease your parents. I’ve seen quite enough of these two.

It’s also curious to me that, for people who want to appear on broadcast so badly, they cancelled SummerSlam’s post-show presser. Considering everything that happened in the last few minutes of the show (my dear colleague will address this) it’s sickening that Levesque and Corporate Officer no. 3 can show their faces to satisfy this egotistical need for the spotlight in their tired, corny, and played-out state, *knowing* what is about to happen — knowing what will happen so well, in fact, that they cancelled the presser.

They’ve paid their dues and they can justify their on-broadcast appearances, but I can say this: it took away from the nights’ awesome momentum, if only for a moment, just to show their faces. Of course, in a way that is convenient and digestible for them.

Written by Angeline Phu