Dark Side of the Ring is set to present its season six finale. This time, the infamous WWE character Muhammad Hassan takes center stage.
Hassan, played by Marc Copani, had a limited run in WWE between 2004 and 2005. This is largely due to the controversial nature of his gimmick. The character started out as an Arab man who felt wronged and mistreated after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. However, he soon started showing more sinister actions that likened him more to the terrorists he felt he was wrongly compared to.
Muhammad Hassan was written off television after an angle saw him choke out The Undertaker with a piano wire. His manager, Daivari, was also carried out of the ring like a martyr on the same day of a 2005 bombing in London. Network pressure led to the character being killed off. Mark Copani, the man who played Hassan, ultimately left the wrestling business a short time later.
WrestleZone spoke with Dark Side of the Ring co-creator Evan Husney about featuring Muhammad Hassan on season six. Husney noted how Hassan’s direction can be seen as a bad idea. He also pointed out how big the consequences were for Copani and WWE.
Evan Husney highlights the fine line between WWE exploring and exploiting Islamaphobia
“I mean, 9/11 was brought into WWE in terms of the assembly they did on SmackDown. And then they create this character kind of out of the headlines and what’s happening with the rise of Islamaphobia that is becoming more pervasive following 9/11, and finding a way to sort of exploit that as a character. But it is such a fine line. Because while that could be an interesting space to plan, you are still presenting your character as a villain and manipulating and playing really off of the fears and anxieties and the racism of some of the fans.
“That to me, while making that episode, just to touch on it for a second, was really the most disturbing part, was really the wrestling fan’s — the average wrestling fan’s — response to Muhammad Hassan. That really was a black light showing how ugly things are out there. But it is also another story that I cannot believe it took us this long to cover.”
Dark Side of the Ring shows the good that Marc Copani is doing today in education
Husney pointed out how much Copani, an Italian-American from Syracuse, had going for him. He had so much potential to be a great wrestler. WWE had plans to make him a main eventer as Muhammad Hassan, but it also came at a high cost.
“There’s an asterisk; you’ve got to play this very insensitive character and this heat-seeking and controversial character. But not only do you have to play that person on TV, you also have to portray that character out of the ring and keep up appearances. And of course, that led to a lot of crazy stuff that he encountered [while] experiencing racism himself. Which is just so wild, you know? It is a fascinating story.”
Husney says Dark Side of the Ring approaches the subject by showing how a failed experiment of an idea led Copani to where he is now, as a positive role model working as a junior high principal. He pointed out that wrestling always tried to reinvent the “foreign heel” concept over and over. However, the Hassan character resulted in “unprecedented levels of heat.”
The season six finale of Dark Side of the Ring featuring Muhammad Hassan airs on May 27 at 10 pm on VICE.
Watch our full interview with Evan Husney below:
Read More: Muhammad Hassan Calls ‘Dark Side Of The Ring’ One Of His Best Decisions
