10 Times WWE Were Shamelessly Exploitative

Marc Copani's Muhammad Hassan's character could have been a real positive for the industry at a time when xenophobic stereotypes were still depressingly rife. Rather than being booked to exploit the simmering racial prejudices of a society still recovering post 9/11, Hassan instead aired legitimate grievances about the treatment of American Muslims in the wake of the tragedy.

Apparently, this made him a heel.

Little by little, the Islamophobic leanings of the character gradually ramped up. His questioning of American attitudes earned him a "sand people" rebuke from none other than Steve Austin, whose casual racism was met with a babyface reaction. Likewise, Hassan earned the ire of American hero Hulk Hogan - prejudice which makes more sense with the passing of time.

The distasteful arc reached its nadir with a devastatingly timed angle during which Hassan and a posse of masked men - terrorists, in other words - kidnapped and subsequently garroted The Undertaker, before the 'martyr' was carried away on their shoulders.

Just one day before the awful taped angle was scheduled to air, London was hit with a terrorist attack which left 56 dead and many hundreds more injured. Yet unbelievably, the SmackDown segment aired as intended on UPN. The TV network were not happy, and immediately ordered an end to the Hassan character. For once, WWE let sense prevail over sensationalism, and dropped the whole storyline. Poor Copani was out of a job because of his employer's own lack of sensitivity.