- 29/5/2025
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02:14Following WWE's unparalleled success in the late 1990s,
02:18in the early 2000s the company struggles to find its footing in a new era.
02:23The WWE was in a transition period.
02:26They'd lost Stone Cold Steve Austin to injury and retirement.
02:30They'd lost The Rock to the movies.
02:33And they were trying to find their next major superstars.
02:37Hello Kentuckian and welcome to Ohio Valley Wrestling.
02:40Ohio Valley Wrestling was a local wrestling promotion and training center here in Louisville, Kentucky
02:45to serve as a developmental or a training program for aspiring WWE wrestlers.
02:50That's the trajectory that Brock Lesnar had taken and John Cena and Randy Orton and Batista.
02:58If you had the athletic background, the size, the personality, we could show you how to be a successful pro wrestler.
03:06I'm Jim Cornette and I was one of the trainers of the wrestler that would come to be known as Muhammad Hassan.
03:13When Mark Caponi came in, he was 21 years old.
03:17He was in good shape.
03:18He had good looks and you could see that he had a great amount of potential.
03:22Boy, this kid's coming out.
03:23I was always athletic and I always played sports.
03:27So wrestling kind of combined all of that for me.
03:30Feast your eyes and fantasize on this year's model, Mark Magnus.
03:36Mark's character was like smug, arrogant.
03:40I'm better than you in every category type thing.
03:42My name's Chris Mordetsky, but you probably know me better as Chris Masters, the Masterpiece.
03:47This guy's a work of Mark.
03:49Mark was the OVW champion at one point.
03:52Obviously, you're so bad.
03:54Jim Cornette booked Mark in a way that would help give him an opportunity to get signed in WWE.
03:59In two years, he had gone from the lowest guy on the totem pole to a main event wrestler in OVW.
04:08And all of a sudden, I get a call from the WWE office saying they wanted to make him an Arab.
04:16I said, but he's Italian from Syracuse.
04:22How is this going to work?
04:24Jim Cornette told me what they were looking for.
04:27Didn't really know how I felt about it at the time, but this is a big opportunity.
04:32Not many people have a character that's handed to them.
04:35So there was no doubt about it.
04:37I was going to do the character.
04:38My name's Mark Kapani, and in 2004 and 2005, I played the character Muhammad Hassan on WWE.
04:46Mark was very dark-complected.
04:48He has the dark hair.
04:50He could look like a stereotypical Arab villain in a movie.
04:54Oh yeah, Jimmy, it's going to be that good.
04:56So now, Mark Magnus is no more, and instead, he is Muhammad Hassan.
05:02Praise Allah.
05:03When I told my family that I was going to be an Arab-American, they definitely were trepidatious
05:11about the fact that I was going to be portraying another nationality, one in this country at
05:15the time, that was particularly not trusted and even hated.
05:20Now, wait a minute.
05:21The crowd have turned their backs on these three discrepantable individuals.
05:26The character of Muhammad Hassan is a direct response to the horrific and tragic events
05:33of just a few years earlier.
05:35We have a breaking news story to tell you about.
05:37Apparently, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center here in New York City.
05:42I remember I was walking home from class, and I hear people talking, and I'm not really
05:47processing what they're saying.
05:49But I get home, and I turn the TV on, and I see the devastation, and then it hit me.
05:57This wasn't an accident.
05:59This was an attack.
06:01At the time, no one knew what was going to happen.
06:03It was very uncertain.
06:05And I think one of the things that wrestling did for me is when they went on the air right
06:10after 9-11, and the show must go on.
06:13We will not live our lives in fear.
06:17It was a defining moment that wrestling could have such a positive impact on me when I was
06:25feeling so negative.
06:28When I was scared, when I didn't know what was going to happen.
06:32I put wrestling on, and for those few hours, it didn't matter.
06:39The WWE was really rallying behind this patriotism, and that would embed the country coming out of
06:469-11, and it inevitably was going to seep into its programming.
06:52At Osama Bin Laden, the exiled terrorist is involved, if not totally responsible for, this
07:00coordinated attack.
07:01Post-September 11th, there was so much discrimination going on.
07:05You couldn't really escape it in the United States around that time.
07:08A lot of people would think terrorist automatically.
07:10We have four basic emotions, anger being one of them.
07:15Transform that into wrestling terms.
07:17You want to open that wound every time you possibly can.
07:21My name is Maven Huffman.
07:22I wrestled in the WWE alongside Muhammad Hassan.
07:26In 2004, 9-11 is still fresh on the minds of a lot of people.
07:31Once we saw Muhammad come out, we just were like, ugh, he's going to get heat.
07:37We will spread the word of Allah to all of you despicable infidels.
07:42The times we were in, we didn't need an arrogant Italian.
07:46We needed someone who could just garner the hatred of the fans.
07:52Along with the new Muhammad Hassan was going to be Sean Daivari.
07:57Sean Daivari is an independent wrestler that came out of Chicago
08:02and was someone that was assigned to be the second to Muhammad Hassan
08:07and was able to speak Farsi.
08:13They called me up if I'd like to offer your job.
08:15I met Mark Magnus, who was Muhammad,
08:18and he told me that they were going to be like two Arabs.
08:20Praise Allah!
08:23Before being introduced to the WWE audience,
08:28Kopani and Daivari test out their new characters in OVW.
08:33We started trying things out at house shows,
08:35and we didn't know the direction the character was going to take.
08:37This was a Vince McMahon idea,
08:40and whenever Vince McMahon had an idea,
08:42you knew it was going to go farther than almost anything else.
08:45An illegal war is being raised on an innocent people!
08:50At one point, it was very stereotypical,
08:53like we're going to raise the price of oil.
08:55We were going out there just trying different things
08:57to see how much heat we could generate from the crowd.
08:59You are a traitor to my country!
09:03I grew up in the era with the Hulk Hogan
09:05and Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage.
09:08It was these larger-than-life characters.
09:10Wrestling has always skimmed the surface
09:12of political events in the modern world.
09:14USA!
09:15USA!
09:16USA!
09:17Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff
09:19were cartoony with the accents,
09:21and I don't think Mohamed Hassan
09:22was any different when we started.
09:25It wasn't until we started filming the vignettes,
09:28and that's when the character took shape.
09:30WWE decides to introduce the character
09:33through pre-recorded segments
09:35that will air in anticipation of his in-ring debut.
09:39My name is Mohamed Hassan.
09:41Vignettes were a critical part
09:43of storytelling for WWE.
09:47My name is Michael Leonardi.
09:48I am a former writer and producer
09:51for World Wrestling Entertainment.
09:53It was our opportunity
09:55to present to the world this new character,
09:58and it played a huge role
09:59because it would really help them
10:01get off to a great start.
10:02Don't confuse me
10:04with acts of terrorism
10:05here in America.
10:07That's when it clicked for both Sean and I
10:11that this wasn't a foreign character.
10:13This was an American character
10:15of Muslim or Arab descent.
10:179-11 changed everything
10:20for me and my people.
10:21Who, rightfully so,
10:23is disgruntled.
10:25For Arab Americans,
10:26there is no equality.
10:27And discouraged and angry
10:30about what has been going on
10:32with his family and his community
10:33since 9-11.
10:35But because we're of Arab descent,
10:36we are singled out.
10:38These were really set up
10:40to highlight situations
10:42in which his character
10:44would experience biases
10:47or prejudice.
10:48Mohamed Hassan is presented
10:50in the light
10:51that just because of my nationality
10:53does not make me a terrorist.
10:56He was the antithesis
10:58of all of the stereotypes.
11:00But the day before Hassan's
11:02first appearance,
11:03controversy is stoked.
11:05On an episode of Sunday Night Heat,
11:07you had your broadcasters,
11:09Todd Grisham and Ivory,
11:10teeing up Mohamed Hassan's debut.
11:12Also tomorrow night,
11:14Mohamed Hassan makes his debut
11:17in the ring on Raw.
11:18I'm just asking,
11:19how are you going to get
11:19to Huntsville?
11:20I'm driving.
11:21Good, because I don't want you
11:22to be flying.
11:23I'm going to get my grip.
11:24And right there,
11:25the fact that we're going to make
11:26a flight joke,
11:28I think it kind of sets the tone
11:29for what the audience can expect.
11:32With expectations riding high,
11:35Mark Gopani prepares to make
11:37his entrance as Mohamed Hassan.
11:39I finally debuted in Huntsville,
11:41Alabama with Mick Foley.
11:44I was nervous.
11:45I felt like I was going to throw up.
11:47I remember we were really not
11:48100% sure how they're going to
11:50take this character.
11:51It was very different.
11:51Put their lives on the line for us.
11:53Mick Foley's out there just giving
11:55a riveting promo about the war
11:57in Afghanistan and supporting our troops.
11:59Supporting the troops goes way beyond
12:01any kind of political affiliation.
12:03Now I come out.
12:04Now are brave men and women.
12:10What is this?
12:12Man, as soon as that music hits
12:13and as soon as you step through
12:14that curtain, it's just,
12:15it's go time and it's business.
12:17I mean, what?
12:19I'm the king.
12:19I understand.
12:21And I interrupt Mick Foley
12:23and I am contradicting
12:24everything he says
12:25because this is my truth.
12:26It's people like us
12:28that are the real victims
12:29of this war.
12:31None of you people
12:32are real patriots.
12:34And instantly,
12:35you are telling the audience
12:36if there was any confusion
12:39from these vignettes,
12:40you are instructed
12:41to hate Muhammad Hassan.
12:43I am sick of hearing you express
12:45your admiration for these troops.
12:48These gutless cowards.
12:50Now you're pissing me off.
12:52Here was somebody
12:53very clearly being presented
12:55as a villain
12:56because he was
12:58attacking Americans.
13:00I don't think Vince McMahon
13:01was trying to tell
13:02a complex story.
13:03Arab-American,
13:04disgruntled,
13:06anti-American.
13:07Ooh, heel.
13:08He may even be justified
13:09in what he is saying,
13:10but he is anti-American.
13:12And I feel
13:13your patriotism
13:16at every airport
13:17and especially right now.
13:20It worked with the fans
13:22because they really
13:23did not like somebody
13:25coming out
13:26and telling them
13:27that America
13:27didn't have all the answers.
13:30When I came back
13:30through the curtain,
13:31I think a lot of people
13:32were very impressed
13:33and I think a lot of people
13:34were very excited
13:35about the potential
13:35of this character.
13:37I knew right away
13:38they were going to push him
13:39to the moon.
13:40He's got the look,
13:41he's got the skill,
13:42he's got the knowledge.
13:43Hi, this is Gene Snitsky
13:45and I used to work
13:46with Muhammad Hassan.
13:48I can't remember
13:49anybody getting
13:50that much heat
13:50since the Iron Sheik.
13:52The animosity in people.
13:54Like they literally
13:55wanted to grab him
13:56and beat him.
13:57It's crazy.
13:58Over a wrestling character.
13:59He just had that aura
14:01about him
14:02to where people
14:02just didn't only hate him,
14:04they wanted to kill him.
14:05To all the men and women
14:12of the United States Armed Forces
14:14now in the Middle East,
14:16the peace of a troubled world
14:17and the hopes
14:18of an oppressed people
14:19now depend on you.
14:21In 2004,
14:22our nation was engulfed
14:24in a war in the Middle East.
14:26We're putting shows on in Iraq.
14:29WWE has returned to Iraq
14:32to celebrate the holidays
14:34with each and every one of you.
14:37Patriotism is huge
14:38in every aspect of our lives.
14:40Add wrestling to it,
14:42it just amps up
14:43the volume tenfold.
14:44WWE has the balls
14:46to come to Brad Sillmore.
14:48Woo!
14:49So then when they heard
14:50this guy who might look like
14:53one of the terrorists
14:54going out basically saying
14:56I had nothing to do
14:58with 9-11.
14:59I'm portrayed as the bad guy.
15:02I don't deserve this.
15:04You don't really care
15:05what he's going to say.
15:06New people have no idea
15:08what it's like to be me!
15:10They booed because
15:11it was showing a mirror
15:13to the face of the American public
15:14and the hypocrisy
15:15and the prejudice.
15:17America has literally
15:18ganged up on me
15:20and our Arab American brothers!
15:23That had really been
15:24pushed forward against
15:26the Muslim people
15:26in this country at the time
15:28and people don't like
15:29to be shown their own flaws.
15:31Deep down inside your hearts
15:33every single one of you
15:37is prejudiced!
15:39Growing up I was always
15:40raised to not judge people
15:42by the color of their skin.
15:45My father told me about
15:46some of the struggles
15:46that my grandfather had.
15:48Being an Italian American
15:50it made me more aware
15:51and sympathetic
15:52to what Arab Americans
15:53were feeling at the time.
15:54These were people
15:55who had lived here
15:56who had assimilated to this country.
15:57The same thing you see
15:58with the Japanese
15:59in World War II
15:59was completely unfair.
16:01It's disgraceful.
16:02And so when 9-11 happened
16:04my concern was
16:06what's going to happen next
16:07and that kind of became
16:08my catchphrase
16:08since 9-11.
16:09Since 9-11?
16:10Since 9-11!
16:12Since 9-11!
16:14I was the good guy
16:15in my own story.
16:16I was the hero.
16:17I was the one fighting
16:17for the injustice
16:19of my people.
16:19But the irony of that is
16:21we were still a heel team.
16:23You know,
16:23Sean would distract the ref,
16:24Sean would slip a bell in.
16:26I know the business
16:29side of things.
16:29I knew if I wanted
16:30to be there
16:30that's the card
16:31I had to play
16:32and it f***ing worked.
16:33He said if he shoot
16:34he got me, corner!
16:35Though he reflects
16:36the politics
16:37of the early 2000s
16:38the concept behind
16:40the character
16:40goes back to
16:41the earliest days
16:42of pro wrestling.
16:44There's such a history
16:45of the foreign heel
16:46that you can go back
16:48to Jack Adkisson
16:49as Fritz von Erich
16:51evil German heel.
16:53Boy, a blitzer!
16:54Carl von Hess
16:55who served
16:56in the U.S. Navy
16:57that's suddenly
16:58portraying a Nazi.
17:01One thing that was
17:02easy to do
17:03is tap into
17:04our tribalism
17:05as humans.
17:07It was a very easy,
17:09very kind of
17:10low-hanging fruit way
17:11to create a character
17:12that Americans
17:14could boo.
17:15But the company
17:16is playing with fire
17:17and as history shows,
17:19not every attempt
17:20to bring politics
17:21into wrestling
17:21is enjoyed
17:22by the audience.
17:23The last time
17:24that Vince
17:24tried to do
17:25something like this
17:26it backfired
17:27spectacularly.
17:28In 1991,
17:30the idea for
17:30Wrestlemania
17:31was going to be
17:32Hulk Hogan,
17:33the American hero,
17:34defending the WWF
17:36and its championship
17:37from Sergeant Slaughter,
17:38the former G.I. Joe,
17:40the former American hero
17:42that had become
17:43an Iraqi sympathizer.
17:46Soon, Hulk Hogan,
17:47it's going to be
17:48your burial!
17:49Vince McMahon believed
17:51they would sell out
17:52100,000 seats,
17:53but a few weeks
17:54before the event,
17:55they had barely sold
17:5610,000 tickets.
17:57It bombed!
18:00The problem was
18:01the Gulf War
18:03was ongoing
18:03right at that time
18:05and the fans
18:06didn't want to see it.
18:08But in 2005,
18:10Copani and WWE
18:11are committed
18:12to making sure
18:12that this time
18:13the storyline does work,
18:15with the company
18:16insisting he stay
18:17in character
18:18at all times,
18:19even in public.
18:20We always had to
18:21maintain not only
18:22the look of the character,
18:24but really the personalities
18:25of the character.
18:26It got a little shady
18:27sometimes.
18:29He got to really
18:30experience
18:31what it was like
18:33being Arab American
18:34in the United States
18:35of America
18:36in 2004 and 2005.
18:39We experienced
18:40what a lot of people
18:41were experiencing
18:42in America at the time.
18:44When we would travel,
18:45Sean always got stopped
18:46because his last name's
18:47Daivari,
18:48which is a Persian name.
18:50Copani never got stopped.
18:52We were on an airplane
18:54and the look on people's faces,
18:56the fear,
18:58people in the back
18:58of the plane
18:59that were calling
19:00their families
19:01to tell them
19:02that they love them
19:03in case anything happens.
19:04One time we were
19:06in San Francisco
19:07and a young mother
19:08with her child
19:09takes her completely
19:10off the path
19:11that had plenty of space
19:13to walk clear around us.
19:16The way that people
19:17looked at us,
19:18you just always had
19:19this uneasy feeling
19:20that there's potential
19:21for something dangerous
19:22to happen.
19:23Once he saw
19:24what Daivari went through,
19:26once he saw
19:26just how people
19:28were going to see him,
19:30I think it changed him.
19:32He was speaking
19:32from the heart
19:33from those promos.
19:35I'm just like each
19:36and every one of you.
19:38I was born
19:39right here
19:40in this country.
19:42It really made it easy
19:44to feel the injustice
19:45because these people
19:46didn't even know us
19:47and the way
19:48that they looked at us
19:49and they judged us,
19:50well,
19:50when we got out
19:51into the ring,
19:52that was how
19:52everyone in America
19:53looked at us.
19:54USA!
19:55USA!
19:57There were a few times
19:58where things
19:59could have gotten real.
20:01We were in Australia
20:02with a bunch
20:03of the guys,
20:04Gene Sininski,
20:05Chris Masters,
20:07and a group
20:08of young men
20:09who were Arab
20:10or Middle Eastern
20:11approached us.
20:12They knew who we were
20:13and they knew
20:14the characters
20:15we were portraying
20:16and they were very angry.
20:17They were saying to us,
20:18you're not really Muslim,
20:19are you?
20:20Like,
20:20they were ripping into us
20:21and it became
20:22a heated exchange.
20:24It made me realize
20:24that there could be people
20:26that took offense
20:26to these characters.
20:28The fact that a non-Muslim
20:30was portraying
20:31that character.
20:32I remember thinking
20:33to myself,
20:34if something happens,
20:36we are so outnumbered
20:37here that it's either
20:39going to take,
20:39like,
20:40hitting somebody
20:40with a chair for real
20:41or, like,
20:43smashing a glass
20:44over somebody's,
20:44like,
20:44I'm thinking it's going
20:45to get, like, rough.
20:47It de-escalated quickly
20:48because I'm surrounded
20:50by 6'10 giants.
20:53The irony is
20:54that those guys
20:54were right.
20:55In our minds,
20:55we're playing
20:56these characters
20:56who are generating
20:57heat,
20:58we're finding success,
21:00but it was
21:00one of the first times
21:01I had second thoughts
21:03about,
21:03is this just a character?
21:05And that's when
21:06it became too real
21:07and that's when
21:08the lines between
21:09wrestling and reality
21:11no longer existed.
21:13Tonight, I will have
21:24the satisfaction
21:25of beating
21:27Shawn Michaels.
21:28As Muhammad Hassan
21:30rises to the top
21:31of the card,
21:32Mark's sudden success
21:33doesn't sit well
21:34with the other wrestlers
21:35in the locker room.
21:36That era of wrestling
21:37was definitely a tough era
21:38to be a new guy.
21:39There was a close,
21:40tight-knit group of veterans,
21:41and I remember walking in
21:43and there's just
21:43locker room etiquette,
21:44you have to shake
21:45everybody's hand
21:46and I was 24 years old,
21:48very green,
21:49and I really didn't know
21:51how to behave.
21:52Getting that push
21:53to the moon
21:53was always a bunch
21:54of the guys
21:55that felt like
21:55you were stealing
21:56their spot.
21:57You've had guys
21:58who have been on the roster
21:59who have been working
22:00their tails off for years
22:01and they're not getting pushed.
22:03There was a lot
22:04of jealous and resentment.
22:05Backslide!
22:06They would weed out guys.
22:08If they found a weakness
22:09in you,
22:10they'd poke at it
22:11and poke at it
22:12until you either quit
22:13or broke down.
22:15They wanted to test you.
22:16Unless you've paid your dues,
22:18you're going to have heat.
22:20You do not want heat.
22:22Muhammad Hassan
22:23found this out.
22:24Oh!
22:25That's what I love!
22:26Oh, yeah!
22:27I'm taking an answer!
22:28Mark's finishing maneuver
22:29was a move called
22:30the camel clutch,
22:31a move that the Iron Sheik
22:33made famous in the 80s.
22:34I've never seen anyone
22:36get out of this hole to you.
22:37It made sense for Mark
22:38to utilize it 20 years later.
22:40Oh!
22:40Oh!
22:40So much!
22:41The camel clutch!
22:42I remember we're in Japan.
22:44It's our final night in Japan!
22:46And Kurt Angle,
22:47who I admired and respected,
22:49made a comment
22:50that Eddie Guerrero
22:51is using the camel clutch.
22:53Well, that's my finisher.
22:55And he was saying,
22:56you know,
22:56it's bad for the business
22:57that two guys on the same show
22:58are using the same move
22:59and it's your finisher.
23:00It looks weak
23:00when Eddie puts it on
23:01and someone gets out of it.
23:03It's like,
23:03you should say something.
23:05If you use a guy's move
23:06in wrestling
23:07without their permission,
23:09it's worse than
23:10if you date their wives.
23:12So, of course,
23:12this is one of those moments
23:13where I should have
23:14kept my mouth shut.
23:15I went up to Eddie
23:16and I said,
23:17should you be using
23:18the camel clutch
23:19because I'm using it
23:20as a finisher?
23:21And he looked at me
23:22and he kind of smiled.
23:23He's like,
23:23I've always used a camel clutch.
23:25He's like,
23:25my father invented it.
23:27I was like,
23:28of course he did.
23:29So, of course,
23:30the boys get a hold of this
23:31and it turns into nuclear heat.
23:33It's disrespectful
23:34and how dare I.
23:36I mean,
23:36I was mortified
23:38and I just really felt like
23:39I made a mistake
23:40that I'm not going
23:41to come back from.
23:42I remember calling my father
23:43and I'm just like,
23:44I just want to fly home.
23:46He's like,
23:46you're going to go out there
23:47and you're going to face this.
23:49And so I had to go
23:50to wrestling court.
23:52Wrestler's court
23:52is kind of a reason
23:53to put somebody on blast
23:55and kind of shame them
23:56in front of everybody.
23:58Undertaker's a judge,
23:59jury,
23:59an executioner.
24:01I mean,
24:01it sounds like kind of ridiculous,
24:03but you never want
24:04your whole roster
24:05kind of coming down on you.
24:08My consequence for that
24:09was buying over $1,000
24:11worth of drinks.
24:13There were certain wrestlers
24:14that were pouring the drinks
24:15on the floor
24:15after I bought them,
24:16pouring high-quality alcohol
24:18in Japan on the floor
24:19seems pretty stupid
24:20looking back on it now.
24:22But after that,
24:23Eddie Guerrero came up to me
24:24and very kindly
24:25put his hand on my shoulder
24:27and said,
24:27I know you didn't mean
24:28anything by it.
24:29He gave me a hug
24:30and we moved on.
24:32As Muhammad Hassan's
24:34notoriety grows,
24:36Kopani lands his biggest
24:37opportunity yet,
24:39sharing the ring
24:40with wrestling's
24:40most iconic star.
24:42My character was upset
24:44that he wasn't given
24:45a match at WrestleMania.
24:46And still,
24:48I am excluded
24:49from the biggest show
24:51of the year!
24:53And I remember finding out
24:54that we were going to do
24:55something with Hulk Hogan.
24:56The red, white, and blue!
24:58It was a dream come true
24:59moment.
25:00I probably called
25:01everybody I'd ever met
25:02in my entire life
25:03to tell them,
25:04I'm going to be at
25:05WrestleMania
25:05in the ring
25:06with Hulk Hogan.
25:07WrestleMania!
25:10That's like playing baseball
25:12against Babe Ruth.
25:13Like, who gets to freaking
25:14wrestle Hogan at WrestleMania?
25:16Oh my God!
25:18Hulk Hogan!
25:19Standing in the center
25:20of that ring with Daivari
25:21when his music hit
25:22and just watching him
25:24work his way down
25:25towards the ring,
25:26you could just feel
25:28the noise from the crowd
25:29lifting you off of the mat.
25:31I had never experienced
25:32anything like it.
25:33Look at this!
25:34I'm a Hulkster!
25:35Look at it!
25:36Stroke now!
25:37Imagine being a kid
25:39who loves wrestling.
25:41Your dream is
25:43to become a wrestler.
25:44Yeah!
25:45Hulk Hogan!
25:46And then you find yourself
25:47not only working
25:48with Hulk Hogan,
25:50but working with Hulk Hogan
25:52at WrestleMania.
25:53That's a dream.
25:54This crowd is going crazy!
25:56Until it becomes a nightmare.
25:59With Hassan established
26:01as a top name,
26:02management decides
26:03to take the character
26:04in a shocking new direction.
26:07With every character,
26:08you know there's
26:09going to be evolution.
26:10You don't want your character
26:11to be stuck in the mud
26:12because eventually
26:14gimmicks run their course.
26:15You got that stupid towel,
26:16you stupid gimmick beard.
26:18I think you're
26:19a piece of garbage.
26:20Vince and the team
26:21decided to lean towards
26:23more of this stereotypical way
26:27it would become
26:27more radicalized.
26:28Let's take this
26:29a step further.
26:30These people think
26:31he's a terrorist?
26:32Let's make him that.
26:34You're looking at
26:35the new icon!
26:37The great
26:38Mohammed Hassan!
26:41As the months wore on,
26:44we started doing things
26:45that were much more
26:46focused on Islam
26:47as opposed to
26:48Middle Eastern heritage.
26:50You will be a sacrifice.
26:52Then I feel like
26:53that character
26:54became insensitive
26:55and it was
26:56a complete departure
26:57from what we had
26:58originally set out to do.
27:01Now I have a bunch of men
27:03who are carrying out
27:04my bidding.
27:05I really pushed back
27:07and I did take that
27:08to Stephanie McMahon
27:09who was really the writer
27:09that I was working with
27:10most on Smackdown
27:11and she kind of
27:13put me in my place.
27:14It was,
27:15this is a huge opportunity
27:16for you.
27:17Basically,
27:18shut up.
27:19We know what we're doing.
27:20What is that?
27:22Oh no.
27:31Looking back,
27:33can I see
27:33that it was insensitive?
27:34It definitely
27:35became insensitive.
27:37The character changed
27:38over the course
27:39of a few months
27:40but I don't ever
27:41feel like what we did
27:42was intentionally
27:44distasteful
27:45up until the end.
27:46Where things started
27:47to go wrong
27:48was as he started
27:50to gain momentum
27:51and this character
27:53started becoming
27:53part of the main event scene
27:55they wanted to try
27:56and generate more heat.
27:58Despite Mark's objections
28:00to the changes
28:01to his character
28:02he knows he has
28:03little power
28:04to fight it.
28:05I don't know
28:06of anybody
28:07that's ever said no
28:08to a storyline
28:09of any kind
28:10because it's like
28:10when you get the opportunity
28:12you're not going
28:12to pass it up.
28:13And that very much
28:14was the culture
28:15and everybody there
28:17was like
28:17who is this guy
28:18to refuse any storyline?
28:20The change
28:21in the character
28:22really took a toll
28:24on me
28:24and I didn't agree
28:26with it
28:26and I think
28:26I was pretty vocal
28:27about I didn't like
28:28the direction
28:29of the character.
28:30There came to a point
28:31with Shawn Michaels
28:32before I put him
28:33in the camel clutch
28:34I took my thumb
28:36and
28:38Undertaker does
28:41the same thing
28:42but the context
28:43in which I did it
28:44it symbolized
28:45a beheading
28:46which was a horrific
28:47and tragic thing
28:48that was happening
28:49in the Middle East
28:49with American citizens.
28:52To be honest with you
28:53at the time
28:54it seemed only natural.
28:58I never saw
28:59how his character
29:00developed
29:01and thought
29:01wow they should not
29:03go here
29:03at the time.
29:04Never.
29:05Once.
29:05To me it was like
29:06oh yeah
29:06that makes sense.
29:08He's going to get
29:09so much heat
29:10for this.
29:11I don't really know
29:12exactly whose decision
29:13it was to do that
29:14I know it wasn't mine.
29:15I think one of the
29:15reasons why
29:16the character
29:17started to change
29:17is because they
29:18were working
29:19up to a program
29:20with Batista
29:20and The Undertaker
29:22who are not only
29:23two giant men
29:24but they're also
29:25two giant personas
29:26and characters
29:27in the WWE.
29:29At some point
29:30they were planning
29:31on putting
29:31one of the world
29:33championships on him
29:34Vince was going
29:34to push him
29:35to the moon.
29:35The day
29:37of the dead man
29:38has come and gone.
29:40Oh my god!
29:44The angle that we
29:46were working
29:47with The Undertaker
29:47was going to build
29:49to a number one
29:50contenders match
29:50and so I was told
29:52that the idea
29:53was that I would
29:54beat The Undertaker
29:55I would be the number
29:56one contender
29:57to face Batista
29:58and it would be
30:00the Arab
30:01defeating
30:02the reigning champion
30:04Batista
30:04in Washington D.C.
30:06Kind of like
30:07the big F.U.
30:08to America.
30:09That was the plan
30:09that was ran by me.
30:11Obviously it didn't
30:12turn out that way.
30:13It was Daivari
30:14versus The Undertaker.
30:15Sean got the crap
30:16kicked out of him.
30:17Two!
30:18Oh!
30:19Oh!
30:19Driver!
30:20Walk about a sacrifice.
30:22On the day
30:23the episode
30:23is set to broadcast
30:25real world
30:26tragedy strikes.
30:27people streaming
30:29out of the station
30:29covered in blood.
30:30This was
30:31a highly sophisticated
30:32coordinated
30:33terrorist attack.
30:35The London terrorist
30:36bombing that occurred
30:37on July 7th
30:39that led to
30:40many many casualties
30:41broke on
30:42a Thursday morning
30:43so you have
30:45worldwide focus
30:46on this terrorist attack
30:48and Smackdown
30:49was set to air
30:51later that night
30:51with this very
30:52controversial angle.
30:54So in the immediate
30:55aftermath
30:55WWE decides
30:57it's going to run
30:58as is
30:59and they were going
31:00to add a crawl
31:01throughout the show
31:01essentially giving a warning
31:03to the audience.
31:04I think they underestimated
31:05the amount of scrutiny
31:07it was going to receive.
31:09The realism
31:10and the imagery
31:11all got tied into
31:13what had happened
31:14in London.
31:15It was Daivari
31:16versus The Undertaker
31:17and so Sean
31:18sacrificed himself
31:20and I had just
31:21this evil look
31:22on my face
31:22then I dropped
31:23to my knees
31:24and I raised
31:26my hands
31:26and say praise Allah
31:28and suddenly
31:29men come storming out
31:30from behind me
31:31hit the ring
31:32I do this
31:35the beheading symbol
31:37and then I come up
31:43I get over
31:44The Undertaker
31:45and then I choke him out
31:50in a camel clutch
31:51and now you started
31:56really walking
31:58that line of
31:58just like
31:59is this guy a terrorist
32:00at the end of the day?
32:02Terrorists behead people
32:03and they had done it
32:05to a journalist
32:06Daniel Pearl
32:07a couple years earlier
32:08Also one year prior
32:10this American
32:11Nick Byrd
32:12had been kidnapped
32:14and then
32:15was beheaded
32:16on camera
32:17by five masked men
32:18the same number
32:19that WWE incorporated
32:21for this angle
32:22The masked men
32:23they were almost
32:24like my soldiers
32:24and I was the leader
32:25of this Islamic
32:26fundamentalist cult
32:27and then Sean
32:28ended up becoming
32:29our martyr
32:29Look at this
32:30they're holding him up
32:31like a sacrifice
32:32like it's a martyr
32:32or something
32:33He's given
32:34what had been
32:34recognized as
32:35an Islamic martyr's
32:36funeral
32:37in the sense
32:38that the men
32:39in masks
32:39are carrying him
32:40overhead
32:41sacrificing his life
32:42for me
32:43That was really
32:44the scene
32:45that started
32:46that controversy
32:47It was across the line
32:48This was really
32:49happening
32:50at that moment
32:51to Americans
32:52and American allies
32:53and people didn't
32:55want to see
32:55that kind of shit
32:56on the wrestling program
32:57And so this
33:00set off a firestorm
33:01of backlash
33:03UPN
33:03wanted nothing
33:04to do with this
33:05character
33:05in light of
33:06the controversy
33:07We had heat
33:09with sponsors
33:10with Arab groups
33:12Everybody
33:13just said
33:14enough's enough
33:15and it was framed
33:16in how insensitive
33:17the WWE is
33:18using real life
33:19tragic situations
33:21to sell the story
33:22I didn't agree
33:23with what we were
33:24doing at that time
33:25I felt like
33:26we needed to scale back
33:27In this particular instance
33:29I told my boss
33:31that I think
33:32this was the wrong
33:32way to go
33:33and I didn't want
33:34to have anything
33:34to do with it
33:35I was demoted
33:36I was stripped
33:36of almost all
33:37my responsibilities
33:38all because
33:39I spoke up
33:40and said that
33:41I think this was wrong
33:42as an American
33:43I thought it was wrong
33:44and then what happened
33:46was pressure
33:47started to come down
33:48from the network
33:49and eventually
33:50UPN put enough
33:51pressure on WWE
33:52and they realized
33:53that they needed
33:53to kill the character
33:55altogether
33:56This could indeed be
33:57Muhammad Hassan's
33:59last match
34:00With the media
34:08and fans
34:09in an uproar
34:10Muhammad Hassan
34:11draws the wrong
34:12kind of attention
34:13The network was
34:15really worried about it
34:16and they said
34:16take these characters
34:18off of Smackdown
34:19I think with the sponsors
34:20and the threats
34:21that they had made
34:22it slowly deteriorated
34:24into something
34:24that I had realized
34:25was probably
34:26going to end my career
34:27Chef Boyardee
34:29doesn't want to air
34:30an ad right after
34:31you martyr a wrestler
34:32If there was no
34:33London bombing
34:34the direction we were
34:35headed would have
34:35become tasteless
34:36Muhammad Hassan
34:37went from this
34:38real life portrayal
34:39of an upset American
34:40Judge me
34:41for me
34:42to now relying more
34:44on his Islamic
34:45background to get heat
34:46I assure you
34:48that that sacrifice
34:49will not go
34:50without its reward
34:51but its sacrifice
34:52for the greater good
34:54I thought it was
34:55ironic that now
34:56we're stereotyping
34:58Middle Easterns
34:58when we started off
34:59the character
35:00as being against
35:00that stereotype
35:01and trying really hard
35:02to make Muhammad Hassan
35:04a real character
35:05someone who was born here
35:06went to school here
35:07as a family here
35:08I for one
35:09will not embrace
35:11a racist nation
35:13Right around that time
35:15I wanted to buy a house
35:16and so I walk into
35:18a room off of catering
35:20and it's just me
35:21and there's Johnny Ace
35:22the head of talent
35:24relations at the time
35:24and I remember going
35:26and saying Johnny
35:26I'm just about to put
35:28an offer in on a house
35:29back home
35:30what's going to happen
35:32and he looked me
35:33dead in the eye
35:34and he said
35:34don't buy the house
35:36and that's when I knew
35:39that we're not going
35:40to be fighting this
35:41that we were done
35:42With sponsors
35:45and the network
35:46pressuring the company
35:47to drop the character
35:48Muhammad Hassan's
35:49fate is sealed
35:50We weren't allowed
35:52to be on TV
35:53We weren't allowed
35:54to be on Smackdown
35:56or Raw
35:56The only thing
35:57we were allowed
35:57to do was a pay-per-view
35:59My family was sitting
36:02in the front row
36:03in Buffalo, New York
36:04where I went to school
36:04where I first got the bug
36:06to want to be a wrestler
36:07Everything kind of
36:08came full circle
36:09and that was the last time
36:11I was going to be
36:12in a WWE ring
36:13I mean if anybody
36:16was going to take me out
36:17having to be
36:17The Undertaker
36:18was an honor
36:19My character was
36:25beat
36:27brutally
36:29And then I was
36:32powerbombed
36:33through the stage
36:33This move called
36:36The Last Ride
36:37and he launches me
36:39and when he drops me
36:40I'm coming down
36:41at a much steeper angle
36:42than I anticipated
36:43Stop this!
36:44No, no, no, no!
36:46Hit so hard
36:47on that single crash pad
36:48on my neck
36:49that I flipped over
36:50and landed clean on my feet
36:51like an acrobat
36:52So they put me down
36:54they cover me with cable wires
36:55put blood out
36:56I don't know how often
36:57that's happened
36:58where a character
36:58has been murdered
36:59on national television
37:00brutally
37:01And with that
37:03Muhammad Hassan
37:04was never seen again
37:05That was it
37:09and you know
37:10the weird thing
37:10about that
37:11was
37:11typically after a show
37:13you go back
37:13to the hotel
37:14I was in Buffalo
37:15and I was home
37:16so I got in my car
37:18and when the show
37:19was over
37:19I drove home
37:20and it was
37:21I couldn't even begin
37:23to tell you the thoughts
37:24that I was feeling
37:25I don't know
37:27if it was relief
37:27sadness
37:29disappointment
37:32I definitely was
37:37heartbroken
37:40by what had happened
37:41and heartbroken
37:42that everything
37:43that I had spent
37:44so much time
37:46and energy
37:47and dreamed
37:49and everything
37:50that I had worked for
37:51was just gone
37:52It made no sense
37:55He did what he was told
37:56because he was being
37:57paid money
37:58and he had a dream job
37:59that he wanted to fulfill
38:01and what they told him
38:02to do backfired
38:04They threw the baby
38:05and the bathwater
38:06out the window
38:06and continued on
38:08rather than tell
38:08Vince McMahon
38:09you f***ed this guy up
38:11you ought to make it up to him
38:12He did everything
38:13he was told
38:14He was great at his job
38:16and they let him go for it
38:17The end of my career
38:20with the WWE
38:21launched me to
38:22a few years of my life
38:23where I had no direction
38:25and I was lost
38:26and I didn't know
38:27what I was going to do
38:28and I knew I would never
38:29get back what I had
38:30and I couldn't
38:32I couldn't rationalize it
38:34and I couldn't find reason for it
38:37I do feel like
38:38wrestling turned its back on me
38:40and I definitely turned my back
38:42on wrestling
38:42and I didn't want to look
38:43back at all
38:45I needed to change
38:47and I didn't really know how
38:49Fired from WWE
38:59and living in Los Angeles
39:00Mark Copani steps away
39:02from the world of wrestling
39:03I was pretty secluded in LA
39:06in the moment
39:07it was survival mode
39:09it was living day by day
39:11it was a level of depression
39:13that I didn't recognize
39:14at the time
39:14I don't want to say hopelessness
39:16but just being lost
39:18and nothing was really
39:21going my way
39:22Depressed
39:24upset
39:25frustrated
39:25you're on top of the world
39:27one week
39:28the next week
39:28you're without a job
39:30once that tide of momentum
39:32turns against you
39:34it's kind of hard to get it
39:35to swing the other way
39:36The character came in so hot
39:39and had so much attention
39:40that nobody thought
39:42it was going to be believable
39:43to bring me back
39:44as anybody else
39:44It's always like that
39:46one thing that sticks
39:47in people's mind
39:48you know
39:48oh that's the terrorist guy
39:50sadly
39:52just a waste of a talent
39:54really
39:54because he had so much
39:55potential to be
39:56like that big star
39:57One of the defining moments
39:59for me with that
40:01is I
40:02had come home
40:04for the holidays
40:05just a bit of a wreck
40:06you know
40:07I was running low on money
40:08and I remember being exhausted
40:10and just saying to myself
40:12you need to get some sleep
40:15and then the thought
40:17occurred to me
40:18what if you don't wake up
40:21what difference would it make
40:22like what difference do you make
40:24how many days
40:26have you wasted
40:27how many days
40:30have you wasted
40:30and
40:31kind of just confronted
40:35with the reality
40:35of where I was
40:36not where I wanted to be
40:38and that was the moment
40:40that I decided
40:41I needed to make
40:42a radical change in my life
40:43and it was a few months later
40:44that I was going to college
40:46working nights at UPS
40:47and it was very humbling
40:48and I found that fire
40:50that work ethic
40:52that dedication
40:53that passion
40:54and I focused in
40:55in another direction
40:56I got my teaching certification
40:57and I got my master's degree
40:58I got a job teaching
40:59then I became a principal
41:00I didn't stop
41:02and I haven't stopped since
41:03so I don't waste days anymore
41:05it wasn't until later
41:09that I realized
41:10I was avoiding the pain
41:11and the heartbreak
41:12that I had felt
41:13because of what had happened
41:14with Muhammad Hassan
41:17behind him
41:18Marcus had years
41:19to reflect on the experience
41:21of being one of wrestling's
41:22most controversial villains
41:24it probably wasn't
41:26until almost a decade later
41:27that I really started
41:29to appreciate
41:30the journey that I had had
41:32and the career that I had had
41:33regardless of how it had ended
41:34and then at that point
41:35it didn't matter how it ended
41:36it's always easy
41:38to say what if
41:39I think Muhammad Hassan's
41:41outcome was set in stone
41:42from his very first promo
41:44this is no longer
41:45the land of the free
41:47and it has nothing to do
41:48with talent, skill
41:49ability, appearance
41:51it has to do with
41:52the culture we lived in
41:53I feel bad for Mark
41:56because man was talented
41:57the man was good
41:58the man was gifted
41:59I will fulfill my destiny
42:02as the first Arab American
42:05to be a champion
42:06I made the decisions
42:07to play that character
42:08and I've had to live with it
42:10so I don't have any ill feelings
42:11about it
42:12I don't hold grudges
42:13it's just the fact that
42:14I got to experience that
42:15and I got to live that
42:16and I had dreamed it for so long
42:18to make that dream a reality
42:20this is something that
42:22I am very proud of
42:23either way
42:25that character was not long for TV
42:27the world was changing around us
42:29and eventually the world
42:31looked like it does today
42:32where that type of
42:33stereotypical
42:35insensitive portrayal
42:36of any nationality
42:37in this country
42:38is frowned upon now
42:39and it should be
42:39Sean is an agent
42:43in the WWE now
42:45Sean has a great mind
42:46for wrestling
42:47and he just gets the
42:48storytelling aspect of wrestling
42:49I talk to Sean all the time
42:50and he's doing very well
42:52and I couldn't be prouder of him
42:53to be honest
42:54it worked out better for Mark
42:56because in the intervening 20 years
42:58he's had a normal job
43:01in a normal place
43:02he's highly thought of
43:03in the community
43:04he's probably been better off
43:06in the long run
43:07than all the crazy shit
43:08he would have gone through
43:09in 20 years in the wrestling business
43:10so I'm happy for him
43:12if I could go back
43:13and do it all again
43:14I absolutely would do it
43:15I'm the man I am today
43:17because of those experiences
43:18Muhammad Hassan
43:19didn't define who I am
43:21that character stays
43:22in 2004, 2005
43:24everything that's happened since
43:25is me
43:26now I'm the director
43:29of human resources
43:30in a small city school district
43:31and I impact over 3,000 kids
43:34every day
43:34and the only way
43:35I had gotten to this point
43:36is because of the epic failure
43:38that I had had
43:39and that realization
43:40that it doesn't matter
43:42what your dreams were
43:43it doesn't matter how it ended
43:44you always have a second chance
43:46I don't think my best days
43:48are behind me
43:49I think that they're in front of me
43:50I'm still looking forward
43:52to doing some big things
43:53I think that they're in front of me
43:54I think that they're in front of me
43:55I think that they're in front of me
43:56I think that they're in front of me
43:57I think that they're in front of me
43:58I think that they're in front of me
43:59I think that they're in front of me
44:00I think that they're in front of me
44:01I think that they're in front of me
44:02I think that they're in front of me
44:03I think that they're in front of me
44:04I think that they're in front of me
44:05I think that they're in front of me
44:06I think that they're in front of me
44:07I think that they're in front of me
44:08I think that they're in front of me
44:09I think that they're in front of me
44:10I think that they're in front of me
44:11I think that they're in front of me
44:12I think that they're in front of me
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