7 Notoriously Hated WWE Storylines (That Weren't Actually So Bad)
2. Muhammad Hassan And The No Good, Very Bad Timing
Somehow, the only thing most fans took away from this storyline is that Muhammad Hassan was a terrorist who hated America. But that's literally the exact opposite intention of this gimmick.
Hassan hated the fact that Americans thought he was a terrorist simply because he was an Arab-American. Remember, this was a mere three years after the September 11th attacks, so there was still a lot of tension regarding the Muslim community. Extreme prejudice against Arab-Americans was very real for a lot of people.
The audience's reaction to his character - booing him for speaking the truth about our post 9/11 society and applauding every babyface on the roster who treated him like garbage for no particular reason - only cemented how spot-on the angle was.
The most controversial part of the storyline occurred during a match with The Undertaker on Smackdown!, when Hassan enlisted several masked men wearing camouflage pants to help his opponent with clubs and choke him with piano wire until he fell unconscious.
Just three days after this episode, the London bombings occurred. The resulting public outcry effectively killed the storyline, even though Hassan delivered some of his most poignant promos in the aftermath of the attacks.
The WWE creative team rightfully gets very little praise for making effective political statements, but Hassan hit the nail on the head when he criticised journalists who wanted his character removed from WWE programming because they considered it insensitive. "I'm an American professional wrestler. But because of my heritage...I'm a terrorist?", barked Hassan in a promo.
It was a stinging bit of truth from one of the most nuanced heels in the history of the company.