Marc Copani [Muhammad Hassan] Looks Back On Controversial WWE Angle That Ended His Career

Marc Copani, better known to professional wrestling fans as the controversial character Muhammad Hassan, has discussed the infamous segment that instantly ended his career.

Copani made his main roster debut in December 2004. The Muhammad Hassan character was portrayed as an Arab American who was looking to put an end to the prejudice he was receiving due to stereotyping following the 9/11 attacks back in September 2001.

Over the next 6 months, Hassan quickly became one of the most hated individuals on the entire roster, but was also in segments with some of the biggest names in pro wrestling history. Along with Hassan sharing the ring with the likes of The Rock, Steve Austin and John Cena, Hassan was also part of a memorable segment at WrestleMania 21 where he and Shawn Daivari attacked Eugene, which led to Hulk Hogan making the save to a thunderous ovation from the Hollywood fans.

The Downfall Of Muhammad Hassan

While it appeared that Hassan was being set up for big things in the latter half of 2005, with rumours of a World Title run also being discussed, everything came to a halt following one of the most infamous WWE segments of the 21st century.

On an episode of SmackDown that was taped on July 4, Daivari was defeated by The Undertaker, which led to Hassan dropping to his knees and multiple masked men attacking Undertaker. After the undertaker was choked out, the future Hall of Famer was carried away by the masked men.

Three days later on the same day that SmackDown aired the pre-taped show, the London bombings took place, which saw 52 people killed as a result of the attacks. WWE chose to air the aforementioned Hassan and Undertaker segment unedited, prompting backlash from the network UPN. Eventually, UPN stated that they did not want Hassan on their channel, leading to Undertaker defeating and attacking Hassan after the match at Great American Bash 2005, which was effectively Hassan’s final match.

Ahead of the release of his autobiography Heat, Hassan spoke with Ben Veal of Wrestling Life about his character and the angle. When asked about who was the driving force behind his segments, Copani noted that Vicne McMahon was a huge part of the creative:

“I think Vince had orchestrated the bigger pieces of it, and then it would be delegated to some of the writers that we worked with. You know, it was definitely a Vince McMahon idea, and then I think a lot of people kind of pitched in about the direction of the character. It’s kind of a team effort when you’re kind of writing that show and the storylines and how they develop with within the show and with other wrestlers. But I felt like Vince was driving the enormity of that character. I don’t know if it was his idea to have me come out there with Mick [Foley] the first night, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was his idea to come out there and or have me go out there and start insulting the troops, because he knew that that was going to be epic heat right away.”

Asked about the controversial Undertaker angle, Copani admitted that he did have reservations over the segment, but also believes that he would have remained on TV if the tragic events did not happen:

“I didn’t like the angle of Shawn being a martyr. I voiced that concern to the people who I thought I had to voice it to. But at the same time, we also had changed from Raw to SmackDown. Different set of standards and regulations for that program, but the character, what I always loved about the character was I always felt that what the character was saying, regardless what he was doing, was right. It was an American character that people used to chant USA, and it’s like, wait a minute, I’m from the USA. Then that character slowly started to transition to a character that was identifying more with Islam and his ethnic background, as opposed to the injustice that the Arab Americans felt. Do I think without the London bombing, the character had been pulled after that episode? No, I think the character would have went on. But eventually, either that character would have been pulled or it would have had to have changed drastically in order to survive after everything began to change in the United States and around the world. So yeah, I don’t think that the impact of the London bombing could be understated, because it really drew attention to what we were doing, and it really kind of made it look like we were taking advantage of real-life situations, which we were, but it hit way too close to home.”

Copani was then asked if he was concerned about his safety due to the angle and how much coverage it was getting in national news:

“At first it was scary to think that I’m national news, and it was also frustrating. It was scary to think that the character wasn’t going to continue. You started to [realise] that little by little, there isn’t much of an agenda for this character anymore, because I didn’t really know what to do about it. It was scary to think that this character was associated with real-life terrorism because you’re out there, day in and day out, not really thinking about the reality of what’s happening in the world. You’re thinking about what you’re doing in the ring and outside of the ring when you’re cutting promos and doing the vignettes backstage, kind of tying it all together to a real-life terrorist attack in which a lot of people lost their lives. It was kind of sobering and eye-opening. But as this heat progressed, it became scary for me to think that we’re just not going to be able to come back from that, and all of the what ifs, and ultimately, the way it ended, led to just massive heartbreak, to the point of denial and avoidance. It’s hard to really go back eventually, to where I was then, because it was so devastating. But to see the amount of press that it got, and to see the negative press that it got, and the fact that I was pulled off a TV, it was tough to sleep at night knowing that the writing was on the wall, that everything that I had worked for and everything that I had put in, and at that time, I felt like I was just hitting my stride.

I had a ton of heat backstage. At first, I didn’t have any heat anymore backstage, like I had been there long enough. I knew all the right guys. I knew everybody, I felt comfortable in the ring. I could get in the ring at a house show and build the navigate a match. I felt better about what I was doing on television. So I think that what really hit me hard is after really three or four years of struggling to learn how to wrestle, I was finally at a point where I felt more confident and comfortable in the ring than I ever have, where everything didn’t feel like it was in fast motion anymore. I can move moment to moment, adjust what I’m doing and be confident what I’m doing and who I’m doing it with, as opposed to, my first few matches, it’s like they’re a blur. You asked me what I remember about them. I can’t tell you much, because the adrenaline is so high that you’re just on autopilot, using muscle memory to get through, relying on the other guy to help it, because they always had a lot more experience. So I think that’s what really sucked to me, was knowing that that character wasn’t going to be around much longer, and finally, feeling comfortable being where I was, just to have it all kind of snatched away like that.”

Copani was also asked if he or his family felt in danger following the controversial segment:

“No, because I think once that hit the news, it really exposed the character. That was when they started saying I was an Italian American. No, that’s when it really exposed the character. It wasn’t about me, the character, about the WWE, putting that sort of content out there at the time insensitively. So I felt more heat before people really knew that I wasn’t even a native American. So no, not really like that. That’s what it was hitting on is this guy’s not even really Arab, and he’s out there doing all of these fanatical Muslim actions, and saying these things. The scary thing was, again, the amount of attention that it gained and really being compared in real life, and knowing that that was going to probably be the death of that character, literally, on TV.”

Copani also looked back on what could have been had he stayed with the company and won the championship, noting that it was very unlikely that he would have turned babyface:

“I suck as a babyface, so that wouldn’t have went over well, maybe it depends. It would take the right kind of situation. Do I think he could have become a different kind of heel? Yeah, but it’s tough when you’re getting that much heat to stop why you’re getting that much heat. If I had to continue without using the Arab American stuff anymore, I don’t know. I mean, you know, as a heel in OVW, I always got heat. I was always able to get heat. Mohammed Hassan was kind of a vehicle to get nuclear heat. But it’s possible. I mean, I would never say anything is impossible in the wrestling business. That would have been a very interesting babyface turn to see Mohammed Hassan suddenly getting cheered and not booed.”

Heat by Marc Copani and Ben Veal, is set for release later in the year.

Featured image: WWE