Jim Ross Says Muhammad Hassan Would Have Had a Good Career With a Different Character

– On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross looked back at the infamous Muhammad Hassan character and how Marc Copani’s career would have gone in a different gimmick. The Muhammed Hassan character was of course one of the more controversial gimmicks of the early 2000s. Copani was assigned the role of Hassan and debuted with the gimmick in 2004, complaining about increased prejudice against Muslims and Arab-Americans following 9/11. He and Daivari worked as heels and caused intense controversy, which went through the roof when a July 4, 2005 attack on the Undertaker via masked men aired after the London bombings. (They were taped before.) UPN, where Smackdown was airing at the time, pressured WWE to keep Hassan off Smackdown and Hassan was gone from WWE soon after despite plans to push him to a World Championship reign.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On Muhammad Hassan having had a good shot at success in another gimmick: “[His career would have been] Good. Good looking kid, had a great body. Smart, college educated, handsome. You know, good TV look. It’s a ‘look’ business, kids, and he had it. And of course, the obligatory heel role that he and Daivari were in of being the evil foreigners, Middle Eastern guys and all that crap. But good kid.”

On his angle with Hassan: “I remember he was shocked when he did an angle with me and Lawler. He slapped me in the face when I had my headset on, which is not talked about. And it drop one of the metal things into my head, and I started bleeding. Lawler of course capitalized on it, ‘JR, you’re bleeding!’ And so we did our little angle, we had a match actually. I say that loosely. Lawler and his partner JR, god — sorry Jerry, you had to carry my fat ass — against Daivari and Hassan at a PPV, even. Extreme Rules. So that set the business back about 30 years, I’m assuming.”

On his impressions of Hassan: “[He was a] good kid. He just had the wrong gimmick at the wrong time, man. Bad timing. He got the worst break that you could probably imagine. Talented, good looking guy, educated, should have been a star, but he had the wrong gimmick. Politically wrong, just a lot of wrongs. But nobody paid attention sometimes, and the kid’s career was cut short.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.