UPN Bans Hassan Permanently

[Just John 0]

Brock Lesnar certainly didn't help that trend either.

[Guest JMA]

Since WWE is big on shoot angles right now, maybe they'll do something like that with Magnus.

 

Semi-related comment: Why would WWE change this guy's name in the first place? I mean, "Mark Magnus" is a pretty cool name. Besides, doesn't WWE prefer to use real names right now?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Semi-related comment: Why would WWE change this guy's name in the first place? I mean, "Mark Magnus" is a pretty cool name. Besides, doesn't WWE prefer to use real names right now?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Because "Mark Magnus" is decidedly non-Arabic.

[SuperJerk 0]

http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/arti.../1122093240.php

 

WWE's decision to drop the Muhammad Hassan character scored the company major media attention, as the Associated Press opted to cover the story. In the article, a UPN spokeswoman expressed confidence in the network's decision, while Gary Davis of WWE referred to it as an "unfortunate sequence of events." Davis continued to point out the true purpose of the angle - depicting the injustices Arab-Americans face - while condemning those who mistakenly called Hassan a terrorist.

 

WWE = 21st Century guardians of a multicultural society.

[Just John 0]

That's probably what would've happened if they let them finish the angle. That's clearly where Hassan was going in that wwe.com promo. If they just ran that promo, they could've swept the "terrorist attack" under the rug and never mentioned it again just like they've done with other ill-received angles.

[SuperJerk 0]

That's clearly where Hassan was going in that wwe.com promo.

 

Yeah, having a guy attack other guy with a fake terrorist cell makes it REAL clear to me the company was just trying to make a statement about how Arab Americans are discriminated against.

 

A more likely explanation is it finally sunk in how bad the fucked up, and now they're back-tracking to avoid looking as stupid as we already know they actually are.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Just repackage him as a garbage man or a sassy race car driver.

[SuperJerk 0]

I'll say this for Hassan...he cuts a believable angry promo.

 

If Mark Magnus can put that much emotion into a promo against a top heel, he could easily become a popular babyface.

[Guest JMA]

 

Semi-related comment: Why would WWE change this guy's name in the first place? I mean, "Mark Magnus" is a pretty cool name. Besides, doesn't WWE prefer to use real names right now?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Because "Mark Magnus" is decidedly non-Arabic.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I meant they could've used it if they didn't make him an Arab.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I just blacked out when I saw a person speaking on behalf of WWE saying that the point of the angle was to educate people on the treatment of Arab-Americans. Is it time for the PPV yet?

[cabbageboy 0]

But here is the thing....having a guy pretend to be the discriminated against Arab would be fine....if the guy was actually Arab! By the way his name is actually Mark Copani, I read that on imdb.com. Magnus is his OVW name.

 

I don't know of a single way you can do this without killing the guy's career. Virtually any angle would involve him admitting he isn't an Arab, and thus the fans will turn on him viciously. If they just repackage him and ignore the Hassan gimmick then a decent amount of people will realize and turn on him, or flat out not give a shit about him since he isn't any good anyway.

[Vyce 0]

The guy had a bad match with Benoit.

 

Nathan Jones didn't even have a bad match with Benoit.

 

NATHAN JONES.

 

Yall are fuckin dumb.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I wish to dispute this. I saw that Nathan Jones v. Benoit match, and I have to disagree - it was a BAD match. God bless Benoit for trying to sell for the guy, but c'mon.

[Guest JMA]

People will do anything to avoid admitting that they made a mistake. It's one of those human traits that I really despise.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The guy had a bad match with Benoit.

 

Nathan Jones didn't even have a bad match with Benoit.

 

NATHAN JONES.

 

Yall are fuckin dumb.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I wish to dispute this. I saw that Nathan Jones v. Benoit match, and I have to disagree - it was a BAD match. God bless Benoit for trying to sell for the guy, but c'mon.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed. As bad as Muhammed Hussan is, he's no where near as bad a worker as Nathan Jones was.

[Guest rawmvp]

According to Meltzer, Muhammad Hassan was originally scheduled to win the World Heavyweight Title from Batista at this year's SummerSlam:

 

" *Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan. Undertaker with a tombstone seems like the only finish. Originally it more likely Orton using an RKO on Undertaker to lead to a title change. Who knows, maybe they'll still go with it after all the press in the last 48 hours that Hassan has gotten, but doubtful since Hassan can't appear on UPN unless they convince the network otherwise. Being that all the controversy hasn't meant a thing for ratings, which would be a reason UPN could change its tune, I don't see that happening."

 

 

Thank UPN that probably won't happen now, or will it???

[Carnival 0]

I seriously wish this could happen. I welcome Hassan as world champ.

 

Hassan vs Batista

Jericho vs Cena

 

I would have bought summerslam hoping both champions get beat. Now it appears I won't be buying it.

[Vampiro69 0]

channels Tony Schivane "Wow, that would put butts in the seats."

 

I like Hassan but that would be so the wrong move, since he hasn't won a big matchup yet.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Oh god, the guy's even worse than Cena, and doesn't have anything. That's madness.

[Precious Roy 0]

This is one of those times where I think Meltzer is either being fed bad info, or misreading the info, or reporting something that was nothing more than an idea someone threw out.

 

I REALLY doubt that BEFORE all this shit with UPN they would have taken the belt off of Batista, who they've put a TON of work into w/ HHH's most convincing elevation yet, in favor of a character like Hassan, who they think so highly of they jobbed him in 3 minutes to Cena his last night on RAW. If Hassan got that shot it was to do a clean job, it's a classic Hogan-style title defense for Batista.

 

NOW however? This could be JBL all over again.....

[razazteca 0]

I seriously wish this could happen. I welcome Hassan as world champ.

 

Hassan vs Batista

Jericho vs Cena

 

I would have bought summerslam hoping both champions get beat. Now it appears I won't be buying it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would Hassan vs Regal be the main event for the 1st title defense?

[Downhome 0]

From PWInsider:

 

Judd sent this. ... I'm not sure if any of you saw this on WWE.com but in the video preview for the Muhammad Hassan vs. Undertaker match tomorrow night at the Great American Bash the "terrorism" (unless you work for WWE apparently) angle is shown again. The video ends with the whole angle repeated only this time there is a voice singing in Arabic.  Thanks to Brian Keir for also sending it along.

 

Go check that out people. The singing, mixed with the wind sound effect, makes this look about a million times worse than it did when it was aired live.

[Guest JesusJuiced]

If they do "kill" Hassan, he could always come back gothic as Undertaker's minion.

[cabbageboy 0]

If they had put the world title on fucking Hassan I would have had to boycott Smackdown. I mean that's just....god, I can't believe they would even consider it.

 

And this better fucking not lead to JBL winning tomorrow. Look, just have UT win and then have Batista win. Then at SS you do Batista/UT to further put Batista over.

 

I mean I assume they are building to Batista/Lesnar at some point when Brock returns....who would buy that if Batista went around jobbing to a bum like Hassan?

[Slickster 0]

Yeah, now you could run Batista-Taker and have Brock run in at the end to setup for No Mercy.

[Guest Trecko]

Lol they could still have Hassan beat Taker and not have him show up on Smackdown. Might as well go all out if they're gonna scrap it and have Hassan be on some Bin Laden shit. Have Daivari come out and explain that he's hiding out in some caves, preparing himself for his match for the World title, and have Batista get randomly attacked from time to time, and have it implied that it's by the "terrorists". It'll give them more time to try and work something out with UPN instead of just scrapping all their plans altogether and if an agreement can't be made during that time that the Hassan character WILL be toned down, he can always lose the match, which I personally think would be good for Batista, simply because I think him beating a "terrorist to the US" in Hassan in the nations capital would be looked at as a bigger deal overall than beating the Undertaker. They could use that match for Survivor Series anyways.

 

Bah, just wishful thinkin. I'd just kill to see them actually do somethin like that, if for nothin but my own sick entertainment. Oh well.

 

*goes to WWE.com to see what they did with the videos*

 

LOL jesus christ @ that video. I'm still a sucker for this shit and thought the video was amazin, but with Daivari being carried out to that music, you can't NOT think of footage on the news of dead Iraqi's or something. That shit is crazy. I'm feelin damn near forced to order GAB tomorrow. I gotta see how this all plays out.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

*goes to WWE.com to see what they did with the videos*

 

LOL jesus christ @ that video. I'm still a sucker for this shit and thought the video was amazin, but with Daivari being carried out to that music, you can't NOT  think of footage on the news of dead Iraqi's or something. That shit is crazy. I'm feelin damn near forced to order GAB tomorrow. I gotta see how this all plays out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Man I was thinking the same thing. I know the whole angle was in bad taste, but that video was so well done that I was totally caught up in the moment. I want to see where this thing goes from here.

[Guest Deadbolt]

I'm surprised so many people here are painting Hassan (or 'Magnus', as I guess is now appropriate) as a sympathetic victim here. Remember, the man was about to be shoved into the mainevent of the company's second biggest pay-per-view of the year without having any decent matches whatsoever, over and above the dozens of talented wrestlers all around him who deserved the spot.

 

So what? It's a title shot not a title victory. Is it a bad business move to want to elevate someone's stock when they're popular? It happens all of the time, people move up, down up, down. It's not likely that Hassan would have stayed in the main event scene. There's a difference between being a maine venter and a midcarder in a main event match. That's all this likely would have been.

 

Plus would you want to see a Batista/JBL summerslam rematch? Orton is a Smackdown main eventer llikely associated with Taker. Christian perhaps could have had the spot (and who knows maybe he somehow will) but I'd rather him get a shot when WWE is commited to keeping him up there instead of teasing fans with him in the main event scene and then having them bitch if he doesn't stay there.

 

I actually saw Magnus at an OVW taping and he made zero impression as anyone who had skills (then again, neither did Carlito or most of the OVW roster).

 

Since when did skills become the only way to make someone popular in todays times?

 

The same applies to plenty of wrestlers. There's no indication that he can't still maintain heat.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Eh, part of me thinks the WWE will make a really dumb move, put the title back on JBL, and have JBL-Undertaker for SS.

[RedJed 0]

Probably the best scenario at this point would be a Orton v. Taker v. Batista three way match for the title at SummerSlam, since I assume the original plan had to be a Orton v. Taker match on the card. You could protect a future draw of a Mania rematch with Taker v. Orton for the next Smackdown ppv instead of SummerSlam and at the same time have Taker put over Batista without the fear of fans losing interest in Batista as a face if they did a Taker/Batista match. Plus you have the ready made storyline with Orton also being pissed at Batista from the day after Mania when he beat him and "put him out of action." Makes perfect sense to do a three way.

[cbacon 0]

Jesus, I can't believe they actually produced that video. I didn't even know they aired a segment with Hassan telling Davari that he would be a sacrifice. I can't imagine how they were planning to continue the angle or how Hassan would explain himself.