Another harsh release from 2005. Muhammad Hassan was one of WWE's most promising prospects at the time and was booked strongly against Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. It was the Undertaker feud that led to Hassan's release. Although it wouldn't happen officially until September 21st, he was basically gone after the Great American Bash pay-per-view in July. Even though the man behind the Hassan character, Mark Copani, was Italian he played an Arab-American who was tired of being the victim of prejudiced in post-9/11 America. The character took a very controversial turn in an angle where Hassan summoned five masked men in ski masks to attack the Undertaker with paino wire and clubs before lifting Hassan's manager Daivari out of the arena, martyring him. While this would have been controversial enough, the fact that the angle aired the night of the 7/7 Londing Bombings (it was taped three days prior) tipped it over the edge. The mainstream media blasted WWE for showing the angle and UPN pressured WWE to axe the Hassan character, saying that he couldn't appear on their network. Hassan, then, was fired mainly due to bad luck. Saying that, he was incredibly unpopular backstage and was regularly beaten up by WWE veterans on house shows, so maybe it was for his own good that he got out when he did.
