10 "Foreign" Wrestlers Who Weren't Really Foreign At All
2. Muhammad Hassan
The less said about the entire existence of the Muhammad Hassan character the better. Who would have thought a WWE terrorism storyline could backfire, right?
Controversial terrorism angle aside, Hassan was far from the Arab American he so offensively portrayed on WWE programming. Born in Syracuse, New York, Mark Copani was offered the role by Jim Cornette when Copani was developing in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Despite his Italian heritage, Hassan was paired with Khosrow Daivari and portrayed a character that matched the view ignorant Americans had of Arabs following the 9/11 attacks.
It was so bad that Hassan had to cease praising Allah as part of his entrance due to complaints by genuine Muslim-Americans, who were rightfully fearful of racial and religious profiling from WWE's audience members.