10 Wrestlers Who Had Their Careers Stolen From Them
5. Muhammad Hassan
Muhammad Hassan, as portrayed by Marc Copani, was a divisive character for WWE to write during the ensuing years of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Hassan’s whole schtick was challenging preconceived notions about those of Arab descent, claiming Americans assumed by looking at him that he was a terrorist. Despite booking him as a heel, it was actually, for a moment, some really clever and ironic writing and the WWE seemed to be daring their audience to reflect on their treatment of others.
That is until the SmackDown Episode where Hassan summoned a bunch of masked men to attack the Undertaker with clubs and piano wire, choking him out and leaving him in the ring. All the subtlety was sucked out of the character. And then, just a few days later, a real life terrorist attack in London made the segment infinitely more controversial.
The episode was aired in the US but pulled from UK and Australian programming amidst mounting pressure. UPN asked WWE to do something about the character so at the Great American Bash later that month, The Undertaker drove Hassan through the SmackDown stage and the character vanished forever.
A combination of bad writing and awful timing sent Hassan down to OVW to construct a new gimmick, but, mere months later, he quit WWE and the industry altogether.