WWE: 13 Most Horribly Offensive Gimmicks Wrestlers Ever Took On

7. Muhammad Hassan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a08fhmLavo Just as the WWE had created a story off the back of the first Gulf War with Hulk Hogan defeating Sgt Slaughter, the WWE created a villainous Middle Eastern character following 9/11. He debuted by saying that he didn't like the negative stereotypes of people from the Middle East, although in reality his portrayer Mark Copani was an Italian American with no Middle Eastern background. Naturally the WWE didn't use the character to dispel negative stereotypes, and instead reinforced them as the character was pretty much characterised as being a terrorist. The world was a different place to what it had been over a decade earlier and with the internet now giving a public voice to millions of people, the debate over such matters made the subject much more sensitive. The controversy reached its height when the WWE filmed an angle where Hassan summoned men in masks who resembled terrorists to beat the Undertaker and carry Daivari from the ring in a ritual fashion. This happened on a taped episode of SmackDown which aired the same day as the 7/7 bombings in London. Why the networks couldn't have cancelled the episode is a mystery, as they obviously could have not shown either the whole show of just that segment. This controversy led to Copani being released from the WWE and he soon retired from the business.