I'm sorry, but this warrants some discussion

[Dangerous A 0]

I know that there is discussion on this in the OAO Raw thread, but IMO it warrants it's own thread.

 

"I see Sand People."

 

Are you for real?

 

I cannot believe WWE gets away with this. For the life of me, I just wish mainstream media would get their hands on this and call WWE on it. I'm for WWE's freedom to say whatever, but I don't like their freedom from the criticism of what they are saying, particularly when it's race baiting garbage. Even if Austin was acting on his own and not from a script, WWE should've bleeped it out or something. Alas, no one in the mainstream will know and it won't be covered and Austin and WWE won't have to apologize or at least try to justify what was said. It's sad. The whole Hassan thing was sad. Believe it or not, the Hassan character would be fifty times worse if WWE would've gone through with their orignial plans of teaming Hassan with Deuce Shade from OVW as a tag team called "The Mad Terrorists". Nothing good can come from this race baiting angle. It doesn't sell tickets and just smears wrestling fans some more. LOTC had a great point in that this angle helps fascilitate racism, because while WWE will try to point out that Hassan's intentions are he is wronged and has valid points, the reaction they are going for is one that is covered in racism and WWE knows it. This is cheap heat at it's ugliest.

 

Unfortunately, I have tickets to the 7/4 Supershow and I really sincerely plan on turning my back on whatever skit or angle they have Hassan in. I'll just stand up and have my back facing the ring. It's disgusting and has no place in wrestling, or any entertainment venue for that matter. If a professional sports athlete were to say what Austin did to the face of an Arab American, he'd get crucified. If this were a Hollywood actor, same thing. WWE should be held accountable as well. And they wonder why their ad rates are the pits. Perhaps it's because you are entertaining to the lowest common denominator and insulting my intelligence.

 

Here's to hoping someone, anyone, everyone in mainstream media gets a hold of last night's Raw show and calls WWE on it.

[Exslade ZX 0]

Well at least he didn't say the 'real' term.

[Black Lushus 0]

I find it more insulting that they're running an Italian guy out there and trying to pass him off as Arab...kinda reminds me of white guys wearing red makeup in 60s Cowboy serials or blackface from the 20s and 30s...

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this. There is something a tad bit disturbing about a 12 year old boy being influenced to the point where he brings race-baiting signs to live events and yells racial slurs at somebody he doesn't even know.

 

Funny, the way I can see this ending is a Billy and Chuck scenario, with Hassan eventually breaking character and saying that it was Davari who set him up like an Arab and told him to act like one when he's really just an Italian-American guy named Mark Magnus.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Sadly, the only way to really go anywhere with this would be to have Hassan beat the tar out of Austin, leaving him a bloody mess. But we all just KNOW that Austin would refuse and walk out before allowing that to happen.

[Shanghai Kid 0]

I'm a Muslim living in America with the Middle Eastern heritage ala Hassan without any of the drama, and I have no real problems with Hassans character, but I agree obviously Austin's comments were in bad taste. In general it would be hard to do this kind of storyline over a long period of time and not blatently or mistakingly introduce true racist remarks to the crowd. What's sad is how open and willing the WWE is to go over that line and get the audience to not only condone but participate in it's racial themes. It's hard to be surprised though because as examples in the past have shown Vince has no problems going over that line with all colors.

 

I have no respect for Austin the person or the character anyways, so it makes no sense to be upset at him. He serves no purpose on the show other than to bury the talent. It'd be nice for the media to call the WWE out on it but the fact is Vince probably already has a PR friendly statement ready saying that it's only a storyline similar to something CSI would do. It's a lose lose situation cause anybody with half a brain watching the show is knowing it's openly facilitating racism to it's audience, but maybe Vince is right in that some of his audience is already racist? Certainly the live crowd isn't going to crap on it since their hero Austin is calling the bad guys "Sand People" and putting the "foreigners" in place. WWE is catering to the stupid with this stuff, it's not putting wrestling as a whole in the most intelligent light, but hey what can the fans do? If a percentage of them are already racist they'll keep eating it up and the WWE will keep feeding them.

[Enigma 0]

Remember when Buff Bagwell came out on Nitro in August '99 with makeup to make himself look like a black guy when he was feuding with The Cat?

[dubq 0]

Magnus is Italian?

[Promoter 0]

Solution to this problem is HIRE RRR Get them out of this mess.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Bitch please.

 

You don't even want to know the type of shit Rudo would do if he was given the book. I've seen the madness firsthand.

 

I like how the WWE has all-but-forgotten the fact that Hassan is an Arab-AMERICAN.

[Dangerous A 0]

From the writing ideas I've read from RRR, he doesn't use a bunch of cheap, race-baiting tactics to get things over.

 

Sad part is, Hassan still isn't over, it's the racism part that is over. Once Hassan starts wrestling, the crowd goes quiet although that is more a commentary on how bad Hassan is in the ring.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Funny, the way I can see this ending is a Billy and Chuck scenario, with Hassan eventually breaking character and saying that it was Davari who set him up like an Arab and told him to act like one when he's really just an Italian-American guy named Mark Magnus.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And then he'll have to act like a stereotypical italian

[Promoter 0]

Bitch please.

 

You don't even want to know the type of shit Rudo would do if he was given the book. I've seen the madness firsthand.

 

I like how the WWE has all-but-forgotten the fact that Hassan is an Arab-AMERICAN.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

HUH? I just wanted another post about how he would book Hassan into the illuminati thing he has in another thread . As for Hassan, I'm surprised they haven't gone Bret Hart/NOD type of racial crap yet. Or how about the Lawler/Bret/Jap nonsense from a decade ago. Trust me, I hope this is all that the wwe has to worry about or get as dreadful with this character.

[Guest M. Harry Smilac]

It's WWE so no one should be suprised.

 

What's really suprising is that they haven't stuck some Chinese/Japanese/Whatever guy out there to pretend to be N.Korean and suck up some more cheap heat.

 

Guess they'd have to worry about still being able to sell tickets over there as opposed to going anywhere near any Arab countries which they don't do at all unless we are currently at war with them.

[Dangerous A 0]

I also think this says something about the "bubble" the writers and Vince live in. They never see real scrutiny or consequences for a lot of what they do, so they keep on trucking. When someone does call Vince out for what he does, he turns bully a la his interview with Costas a couple of years ago and his Real Sports interview where he knocked Armen Ketyeian's questions out of his hands.

[Guest jumpingbombangel]

I thought it was tacky, but I'm not surprised. This is the same company that brought you Saba Simba, replete with something that was supposed to be "African" war gear.

 

Vince McMahon is very, very much a mick, and micks are not known to be PC.

[zyn081 0]

Theyve dropped the ball with Hassan. For 2 reasons:

 

(1) I am sure that some Arab-Americans have been mistreated in the US.

 

(2) He is an Arab-AMERICAN.

 

They should have played to this 2 facts and portrayed him as a tweener, were his vigenettes show video evidence supporting his arguments and he can say: how can you not agree with me. Having Daivari spout off is just to get cheap heat. But hey, Vince is so pro-USA he doesnt have the guts to try and pull off such a mature angle properly.

 

When I heard Austin was going to hear his case I said great, hell make fun of him, make him look stupid, pretend to listen, then beat the crap out of him. Austin, either accept a change of character of go . . .

[Promoter 0]

Saba Simba, LOD, and Texas Tornado

 

Yep, all well-known wrestlers at the time with name changes of ridiculous proportions and for no real reason. Akeem The African Dream anyone?

 

Slick was boss though

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I find it more insulting that they're running an Italian guy out there and trying to pass him off as Arab...kinda reminds me of white guys wearing red makeup in 60s Cowboy serials or blackface from the 20s and 30s...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

To be fair, Alec Guinness made a great Prince Feisal.

[Dangerous A 0]

A question I have is whether Austin's comment was scripted or not. It really shouldn't matter since Austin isn't going to be punished whether it was or not, but obviously Austin had no problem saying it because if it was scripted and Austin didn't like it, he has enough pull he could have it changed or not say it.

 

Just another thing Austin gets clear of. I know he has been scrutinized here by a few, but if this were HHH saying this or a person universally loathed by the IWC, there'd be people calling for blood. I guess I can add this to Austin also walking out of the promotion when he didn't get what he wanted, twice and sprinkle in some woman beating and we have ourselves, well, Steve Austin.

 

This just tarnishes Austin more in my eyes. It's just like Flair tarnishing his legacy staying around being HHH's yes man and not hanging it up. Austin sticks around and goes over talent without even wrestling anymore.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Vince McMahon is very, very much a mick, and micks are not known to be PC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks, jba ... that quote made my day just a little brighter.

[Jericholic82 0]

I also was shocked by the comment. If this was 1999, the media would be all over this.

 

The reason why they couldn't make it a tweener character is that the majority of the American live audience will automatically boo anyone who represents any kind of nationality other then the USA. and the fans are also quick to accept any stereotype (like how Itailan gimmick wrestlers gets wheres my pizza chants) It's been imbued in their minds for years, as wrestling has been doing the evil foreigner gimmick for over 50 years now, all the way back to wwII era w/evil German gimmicks.

 

My guess is Vince looked at Magnus and thought "hey he looks like an A-rab, lets gimmick him up".

 

Being half-Italian, I feel sorry for Mark, but it's not like he turned it down, and would you blame him? WWE offered him a spot on RAW almost every week, a feud with Hulk Hogan, and an in ring segment with Stone Cold.

 

Just as Slaughter was willing to go along with the turncoat angle in 90, Hassan had no problem selling his soul for some cash and fame.

 

And as the years go by we find more reasons to dislike Steve Austin, who at one time had everyone in the palm of his hands, but flushed it away with his primadonna attitude and alleged wife-beating ways.

[Vampiro69 0]

I thought Austin's attempts at humor was horrible. I am part Arab as well, and found his comments to be in poor taste. However, I expected it from Austin since he is a douchebag.

[zyn081 0]

I also was shocked by the comment. If this was 1999, the media would be all over this.

 

The reason why they couldn't make it a tweener character is that the majority of the American live audience will automatically boo anyone who represents any kind of nationality other then the USA. and the fans are also quick to accept any stereotype (like how Itailan gimmick wrestlers gets wheres my pizza chants)  It's been imbued in their minds for years, as wrestling has been doing the evil foreigner gimmick for over 50 years now, all the way back to wwII era w/evil German gimmicks. 

 

My guess is Vince looked at Magnus and thought "hey he looks like an A-rab, lets gimmick him up".

 

Being half-Italian, I feel sorry for Mark, but it's not like he turned it down, and would you blame him? WWE offered him a spot on RAW almost every week, a feud with Hulk Hogan, and an in ring segment with Stone Cold. 

 

Just as Slaughter was willing to go along with the turncoat angle in 90, Hassan had no problem selling his soul for some cash and fame.

 

And as the years go by we find more reasons to dislike Steve Austin, who at one time had everyone in the palm of his hands, but flushed it away with his primadonna attitude and alleged wife-beating ways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Austins stale. Ban him from TV.

 

All the WWE had to do was show vignettes of people of different races getting treated in the same way, and then Hassans friends and family getting treated differently. This has been said before. Then Hassan comes out the 1st time, without the stereotypical music and sidekick and says, I am an American and proud to be a membmer of this country, but. . . they should have least given him a chance with that, and see how people reacted.

 

On another point, a wrestler portraying a character to earn money should never be critiscised for doing his job, unless he goes overboard with it (a la Austin).

[CBright7831 0]

Magnus is Italian?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes.

 

How can you not tell?

[Guest cacheton]

I also was shocked by the comment. If this was 1999, the media would be all over this.

 

The reason why they couldn't make it a tweener character is that the majority of the American live audience will automatically boo anyone who represents any kind of nationality other then the USA. and the fans are also quick to accept any stereotype (like how Itailan gimmick wrestlers gets wheres my pizza chants)  It's been imbued in their minds for years, as wrestling has been doing the evil foreigner gimmick for over 50 years now, all the way back to wwII era w/evil German gimmicks. 

 

My guess is Vince looked at Magnus and thought "hey he looks like an A-rab, lets gimmick him up".

 

Being half-Italian, I feel sorry for Mark, but it's not like he turned it down, and would you blame him? WWE offered him a spot on RAW almost every week, a feud with Hulk Hogan, and an in ring segment with Stone Cold. 

 

Just as Slaughter was willing to go along with the turncoat angle in 90, Hassan had no problem selling his soul for some cash and fame.

 

And as the years go by we find more reasons to dislike Steve Austin, who at one time had everyone in the palm of his hands, but flushed it away with his primadonna attitude and alleged wife-beating ways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Austins stale. Ban him from TV.

 

All the WWE had to do was show vignettes of people of different races getting treated in the same way, and then Hassans friends and family getting treated differently. This has been said before. Then Hassan comes out the 1st time, without the stereotypical music and sidekick and says, I am an American and proud to be a membmer of this country, but. . . they should have least given him a chance with that, and see how people reacted.

 

On another point, a wrestler portraying a character to earn money should never be critiscised for doing his job, unless he goes overboard with it (a la Austin).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I thought his gimmick had promise but he just turned into Iron Sheik 2K. With the long shirt, headgear and camel clutch. It's funny how live audiences are so ignorant. I remember when Hassan did a five minute speech making valid points then Jericho goes "Shut the hell up" and the crowd popped. I don't think it would work to turn Hassan face, they tried it with Tiger Ali and he got pissed on by the fans.

[Jericholic82 0]

I also was shocked by the comment. If this was 1999, the media would be all over this.

 

The reason why they couldn't make it a tweener character is that the majority of the American live audience will automatically boo anyone who represents any kind of nationality other then the USA. and the fans are also quick to accept any stereotype (like how Itailan gimmick wrestlers gets wheres my pizza chants)  It's been imbued in their minds for years, as wrestling has been doing the evil foreigner gimmick for over 50 years now, all the way back to wwII era w/evil German gimmicks. 

 

My guess is Vince looked at Magnus and thought "hey he looks like an A-rab, lets gimmick him up".

 

Being half-Italian, I feel sorry for Mark, but it's not like he turned it down, and would you blame him? WWE offered him a spot on RAW almost every week, a feud with Hulk Hogan, and an in ring segment with Stone Cold. 

 

Just as Slaughter was willing to go along with the turncoat angle in 90, Hassan had no problem selling his soul for some cash and fame.

 

And as the years go by we find more reasons to dislike Steve Austin, who at one time had everyone in the palm of his hands, but flushed it away with his primadonna attitude and alleged wife-beating ways.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Austins stale. Ban him from TV.

 

All the WWE had to do was show vignettes of people of different races getting treated in the same way, and then Hassans friends and family getting treated differently. This has been said before. Then Hassan comes out the 1st time, without the stereotypical music and sidekick and says, I am an American and proud to be a membmer of this country, but. . . they should have least given him a chance with that, and see how people reacted.

 

 

They still would have booed him IMO.

[zyn081 0]

Yes, and I dont blame them, if straight after he speaks Jericho says just shut the hell up you ass clown.

[Guest Fook_Theta]

Magnus is italian for the tenth time.

 

 

Vince will kill someone for some publicity, even bad publicity like this. He tried the next logical thing and he won't get it. They're going to have to do something extremely offensive to even get a blurb on FoxNews, and even then I'm not sure it will dramatically increase any type of drawing power.

 

Cute gimmick in a way, but doomed to fail from the beginning. Daivari > Magnus

[Eclipse 0]

I was kinda caught by surprise when Austin said that. So far, the media hasn't picked up on this. If this was a few years ago, they would, but since the American public's vision of Arab-Americans have changed, I guess the WWE feels that the sand people thing wasn't a big thing.