About Me
Name: Muhammad Hassan
Real Name: Mark Copani
Birthday: November 7, 1981
Hometown: Born in Amman, Jordan
Raised in Syracuse, New York
Resides in Detroit, Michigan
Marital Status: Swinger
Height & Weight: 6'2" - 230 lbs
Trained by: Nick Dinsmore
Debut: February 2003 (OVW)
Previous Gimmicks: Mark Magnus (OVW)
This Year's Model
Finishing Move: The Complete Shot
The Finishing Touch
Favorite Moves: The Camel Clutch
Blue Thunder Backbreaker
Notable Feuds: Johnny Jeter
Jim Cornette
Matt Morgan
Seth Skyfire
Jerry Lawler
Sgt Slaughter
Chris Benoit
Shawn Michaels
Chris Jericho
Shelton Benjamin
The Undertaker
Wikipedia -
WWE RAW:
Copani, using Mark Magnus as his name, made his professional wrestling debut in 2003 at WWE's training ground, Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was once managed by Nikita Fink.
He made his WWE TV debut on RAW as Muhammad Hassan on December 13, 2004, after wrestling dark matches and house shows for about two months. His introductory video and gimmick featured him and his associate introducing themselves. He described himself as a Middle Eastern-American wrestler wanting relief from the increased stereotypes created by the 9/11 attacks, as he enters professional wrestling. He then concludes with a controversial extension of hands and praise to Allah. He stopped praising Allah vocally due to complaints by Muslim-Americans, but still extended his hands during his ring entrance. His speech followed by a supposedly Arabic translation of his speech (in truth Persian) by his manager, Khosrow Daivari. Hassan's gimmick also involved him interrupting promos by other wrestlers with his theme music and approaching the ring to cut promos of his own, typically complaining about being held back due to anti-Arab prejudice.
Making his entrance into the WWE, he berated the way the media have characterized Arab-Americans after September 11. As an example, he focused his anger on, RAW announcers Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross. He then went on to defeat Jerry Lawler at New Year's Revolution. In the course of his undefeated streak, Hassan defeated wrestlers such as The Hurricane, Sgt. Slaughter, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho.
At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005, Hassan and Daivari were featured in a segment with the American patriot Hulk Hogan that saw Hogan coming to the rescue of wrestler Eugene who was being attacked by the two Arab-American performers.
The next night on RAW, Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault WWE legend Shawn Michaels. The following week, Michaels approached RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff demanding a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused but did tell Michaels to find a partner and he would grant a match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him. On the April 18 episode of RAW, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to make save Michaels and accept his offer.
At the WWE Backlash pay-per-view Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels, with Daivari being pinned. Hassan would blame and attack Daivari for the loss the next evening on RAW.
On May 30, 2005, Hassan faced popular World Heavyweight Champion Batista and was squashed in the biggest match of Hassan's career. While Hassan won via disqualification, he and Daivari were severely beaten by Batista after the match.
The next week, Hassan was granted a 2-on-1 Handicap Match with Daivari for the Intercontinental Championship against Shelton Benjamin after threatening RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff with a lawsuit for Batista's actions. After Hassan initially appeared to pin Benjamin and win the title, the referee realized Benjamin was on the ropes and reversed his decision. Benjamin eventually pinned Daivari to retain his title.
On June 20, Hassan and Daivari interrupted a promo by WWE Champion John Cena to complain about how Hassan was "screwed" out of the Intercontinental Title; Bischoff took the opportunity to punish Cena by booking him against Hassan in a WWE Title defense. However, Hassan's losing streak in title matches continued as Cena dominated him in a one-minute squash match, pinning him cleanly and thus ending his "unpinned" streak.
SmackDown! Controversy:
On the June 23, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, it was revealed both Hassan and Daivari were drafted to SmackDown! in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. Hassan's move to SmackDown! would spell the beginning of the end of the Hassan character and ultimately Copani's tenure with the WWE. Hassan won his first SmackDown! match, a match against The Big Show with help from Big Show's rival Matt Morgan. The following week, Hassan was involved in a confrontation with The Undertaker.
On the episode of SmackDown! taped on July 4, General Manager Teddy Long put Muhammad Hassan in a match against The Undertaker at the Great American Bash and placed Daivari in a match that night against the Undertaker. Daivari was defeated easily, but Hassan began to "pray" on the ramp, summoning five masked men, dressed almostly completely in black. Armed with clubs and a piano wire, they beat and choked the Undertaker out , and Hassan put him in the Camel Clutch. Afterward, the masked men lifted Daivari above their heads and carried him away in a manner evoking the common Muslim treatment of a martyr. Three days later, hours before the episode was scheduled to air, the 7 July 2005 London bombings took place. In a widely criticized decision, UPN opted to show the controversial imagery unedited in America and on The Score in Canada with an advisory warning shown several times during the broadcast. It was removed from the Australian and UK broadcasts.
The storyline elicited national attention in the New York Post, TV Guide, Variety and other major media outlets. In response to the criticism, UPN decided that it would monitor the storyline closely and that it did not want the Hassan character on its network that week. Hassan later delivered a promo to the live crowd for the July 14 airing of SmackDown!, but when UPN announced that the segment would be edited, WWE decided to host the video of the segment on its official website. In the segment, Hassan, reiterates that he is an Arab-American and that the American people automatically and unfairly assume that he is a terrorist. Despite being in character, he referred to the real-world media coverage of the storyline, singling out the New York Post's Don Kaplan by name. On the July 14 episode of SmackDown!, Hassan's absence was explained by a statement delivered by his lawyer, which said that Hassan refused to appear on the show until that month's Great American Bash due to the way he had been treated by the media and WWE fans.
It was revealed in late-July 2005 that UPN had pressured WWE to keep Hassan off of their network, effectively removing him from SmackDown! However, Hassan had apparently been booked as the victor in his ..1 Contender's match against the Undertaker at The Great American Bash, setting up a Batista-Hassan match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. With no chance of having Hassan wrestle on SmackDown!, the Undertaker was booked to win the match instead.
At the Great American Bash 2005, after Hassan's loss in a match with The Undertaker, Hassan was given the Last Ride through an open stage ramp onto a concrete floor where it was reported that he sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to a nearby medical facility, apparently a solution aimed to kill off the Hassan character. Several days later, when WWE.com hosted a video of a kayfabe announcement from Theodore Long, where he reiterates the stipulation that Hassan would no longer appear on SmackDown! due to the match stipulations, but left open the possibility of a reappearance on RAW. Due to increasing public pressure, the WWE was forced to later drop the character altogether, with sending Copani and Daivari to their developmental territories to alter their gimmicks.
Although Daivari would report to Ohio Valley Wrestling (and later would return to the WWE), wrestling reports indicated that Copani would not, and on September 21, 2005, Copani parted ways with the WWE. While the WWE article detailing his release indicated that he may return in the future (possibly in his Hassan character), Copani was quoted as being eager to pursue a career in acting. However, he has left the possiblity of returning back to wrestling in the WWE open, citing the excellent working relations he had with the WWE management as opposed to Brock Lesnar.
The Bottom Line:
I'll be back.
