1. Muhammad Hassan
This one should have been a real game-changer. An anti-American gimmick that isn't necessarily anti-American, working in an American company, wrestling in front of (majority) American audiences. That's the kind of thing that wrestling promotions have been able to print money with in the past. Muhammad Hassan came along at the right time, in a day and age where America was still sensitive about what happened during September 11th, 2001, but not
too sensitive to where the man may have been attacked by unruly fans after every show he performed in. Things started off perfectly, with Hassan and his manager, Khosrow Daivari, not necessarily being anti-American, but asking fans to not stereotype them, their culture, and their religion in the wake of 9/11. The crowds continued to boo them, and their asking of fans turned into demanding of fans, and we were off to the races. With their "preaching", and with Daivari doing a great job of amping his "annoying" level up to the max during every promo, they were doing a really good job of getting heat on themselves. Things were looking great for them, even though Hassan wasn't very good in the ring. That's how good the character was. His in-ring work was overlooked a bit because everything else was going well... until the controversy happened. On a taped episode of Smackdown, Teddy Long booked Daivari in a match with The Undertaker. After Taker won, Hassan began "praying", and suddenly, five masked men ran out and attacked Taker, choking him out with piano wire. After the attack, the masked men carried a fallen Daivari out over their heads, treating him as if he were a martyr. In a normal week, this event wouldn't have gotten too much publicity. However, earlier in the day of Smackdown's airing, terrorists set off bombs in London, injuring over 700 people and killing 52. It was terrible timing to have any wrestling storyline that even somewhat resembled terrorism in any way. UPN (Smackdown's network at the time) would eventually put pressure on WWE to take Hassan and Daivari off the air, thanks to increased media complaints, and WWE would eventually cave to that pressure. Hassan would go on to lose to The Undertaker at the Great American Bash pay-per-view later that month, and would never be seen again. If Hassan weren't so expendable because of his poor in-ring skills, many people continue to feel, to this day, that WWE wouldn't have given in to what UPN was asking, and that Hassan and Daivari would have remained on television. It is a compelling argument, that's for sure. One thing is for certain, though, and that is just how stunted the character's growth was by how little Hassan could actually do in the ring.