'ARAB AMERICAN' WRESTLER IS BANISHED FROM SMACKDOWN

[rumpel]

'ARAB AMERICAN' WRESTLER IS BANISHED FROM SMACKDOWN
Monday, July 25 2005
"Arab-American" wrestler Muhammad Hassan has taken a forced leave of absence from UPN's Smackdown after his appearance on the show two weeks ago -- on the day of the London bombings -- drew hundreds of complaints. A segment of the show, which aired in the United States but was edited out of the European broadcast, depicted a terrorist-like attack involving a group of masked Arab-Americans and a wrestling opponent. Joanna Massey, a spokeswoman for UPN, which airs SmackDown!, said that the network had asked World Wrestling Entertainment to remove episodes featuring Hassan "because it was the right thing to do." Hassan's real name is Mark Copani; he is an Italian-American Buddhist.

http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm?id=39143

[sniffa]

1. fucking Lame

he's actuaLLy a good wrestLer, and a good character.

[startingnow]

4. and a good actor!

;)

[sniffa]

8. yes, i noted that

a good character.

[startingnow]

68. you beat me!

;)

[flvegan]

7. Where's The Iron Shiek when you need him?

Iran, Number 1! Iran, Number 1! USA...ach-ptuey!

[MrBenchley]

39. The Iron Sheik was actually a washed-up Hispanic football player

I remember an item in the Daily News: He and another wrestler named Hacksaw Jim Mudflap or something like it got busted by Jersey State Police. They were sharing a joint in the car as they drove together to Atlantic City, where they were scheduled to have a death match over the honor of the USA and Iraq (or Iran--I seem to recall the Sheik switched countries as the political winds blew)...

[anti_shrub]

44. The Iron Shiek is Iranian

He represented Iran in the Olympics in wrestling (in 1968 i think).

His real name is Khosrow Vasori, Hassan's manager's first name (Shawn "Khosrow" Daivari) was meant as a inside tip of the hat to the Shiek.


And yes, him and Jim Duggan were busted smoking pot together in 1987.

[MrBenchley]

45. I recall the Daily News reported his name as Hispanic...

at any rate, the slab of lard who got suspended in this story was Italian-American...

Professional wrestling has always amused the hell out of me...the amazing thing about it is that as fake-y looking as it is on TV, it's even phonier when seen in person...

[anti_shrub]

50. And according to real lawyers

shows like Law and Order are phony too. Same as CSI, real true to life seeing crime scene investigators interrogate suspects like cops.

And I'm sure ER is a true to life depiction of hospitals too.

It's TV, it's not supposed to be super-realistic.

[MrBenchley]

54. Gee, what a silly post...

those are works of fiction--rasslin' is posing as a sport. Of cours,e it's no more sport than it is mint-flavored.

[anti_shrub]

58. Wrestling hasn't pretended to be a sport for years

Not since the mid 90s when Vince McMahon said his company does "sports-entertainment".

[MrBenchley]

65. So tell us...

what sort of person could possibly find "a terrorist-like attack involving a group of masked Arab-Americans and a wrestling opponent" ENTERTAINING?

[anti_shrub]

73. No one

Hence the reason for all the hoo-ha over this.

People didn't find it entertaining, thus the character is gone.

[ArkDem]

62. What is Hispanic football?

[MrBenchley]

67. As somebody said the otehr day

it's more fun if you inhale...

[longship]

2. Let me understand this.

A person has been banned from an entertainment because he pretends to be an Arab-American?

Now I've heard everything.
:shrug:

[donco6]

5. And he only PLAYS an Arab-American.

Don't forget that little extra twist.

[uncle ray]

18. not to mention

theat they KNEW what they were doing, that same day a statement was issued saying that they "didn't have enough time" to find something to replace the particular match with, but the show HAD to go on. jeebus, after 9/11 networks had no problem shelving entire episodes and even series because of what happened, here they can't be bothered to replace one wrestling match, so as a result someone not to blame gets fired, for having simply done his job as paid to do.

[donco6]

27. That's a good point.

Sounds like someone fell in love with the stupid film segment they did and couldn't bear not to show it.

[MrBenchley]

46. What makes this especially absurd...

is that the wrestling promoter who put on this mess and now has suspended him, probably scripted out for him exactly what he was called upon to do.

[donco6]

3. Yet another example of American stupidity.

How many of those people really believe those characters are real?

[zbdent]

40. Look at the environment

these are the people who bought that Hulk Hogan could wrestle . . .

[sniffa]

41. .

:rofl:

[flvegan]

6. So this is what it has come to.

Granted, it might not have been a tasteful depiction, but it's friggin pro wrestling.

So here's what I can take from this:
It's NOT okay to depict a fake Arab-American's jumping another fake pretty boy. Got it. The steroids and boobs are cool, though.

Whatever. I like wrestling. It's entertaining.

An Italian-American Buddhist...I'da never figured.

[MN ChimpH8R]

13. And his "manager" on the show

(real name Shawn Daivari) is actually Iranian-American. His dad owns a couple of pizza places here in Minneapolis.

It was a tasteless as hell skit, but this is Vince McMahon we're talking about here. Whaddya expect - Shakespeare? The problem was the timing as it aired on the day of the London subway bombings. If it hadn't been for that (and Vinny Mac's stupidity in not pulling/editing out the skit) no one would have cared.

[jobycom]

32. Now I'm starting to think it sounds like a publicity stunt

Vince couldn't buy advertising like this. Maybe the "banning" is part of the stunt, so they can bring him back later to much fanfare.

Who knows? The PR releases are probably as fake as the sport. It's working though. He's got me interested, and I wouldn't normally be.

[Emendator]

59. Roberto Baggio

from the Italian World Cup team awhile ago is (or was) a Buddhist. It would have been nice if Buddha had helped him in the penalty kicks in the final against Brazil. He kicked one about 20 feet over the net.

[rumpel]

9. So much for racial profiling, eh?

[anti_shrub]

10. Just to clarify

He wasn't banned because he played an Arab, he was banned because his attack on the Undertaker character was meant to invoke images of the terrorist beheading videos on an episode of Smackdown that unfortunately ended up airing on 7/7.

It was disgusting and the banning was justified IMO.

[jobycom]

15. Did he write the skit?

I mean, was it his idea to do the beheading thing, and did he have any approval for it prior to the show?

[MN ChimpH8R]

16. The wrestlers don't write the skits

The writers are supervised by Stephanie McMahon, her husband Paul Levesque (Triple H) and Vince himself.

[jobycom]

22. Thanks, answered my question. nt.

[jobycom]

11. Very interesting ethical question here

He's being discriminated against for pretending to be an Arab Muslim... Is his act being dropped because people don't want to see Arab Muslims, or because people find his stereotypical act (I've never seen it, just going by the gist of the article) offensive to Arab Muslims?

[sniffa]

12. offensive to scared white foLks

his character is a heeL - he comes out and compLains about the discrimination and hate he's faced in america since 9/11.

the crowd boos.

[anti_shrub]

14. read my post

It had nothing to do with him playing an Arab, he was re-enacting terrorist videos.

[sniffa]

17. i read your post

i stand by my statement.

[anti_shrub]

20. Your statement is wrong

Vince doesn't care if white folks are offended, he cares when his network (who he's trying to re-sign with next year) is offended.

[aden_nak]

21. He's already given up on UPN. Both shows are going to USA.

I bet he's eating some serious crow over that.

[anti_shrub]

24. Only RAW is going to USA

Smackdown has a separate contract with UPN till 2006. RAW is going to USA in October.

[aden_nak]

34. Yeah, but word is UPN is really not happy with the ratings.

And since they seem content to leave Smackdown in a distant second, even post-trade, I don't expect them to pick it up. UPN is just itching to ditch the show, and USA has already floated the idea of taking them both. Either way, I bet going back to USA really pissed Vince off.

[sniffa]

23. and how does that not pLay with what i said?

the networks get upset when they get compLaints, and who do those compLaints come from?

[anti_shrub]

26. People like me

who were offended to see beheading videos re-enacted in their wrestling programs.

But then I'm white, so I must have *really* been offended because he was playing an arab, right?

[sniffa]

28. peopLe Like you

thanks for getting him puLLed whitey.

[anti_shrub]

33. Well I guess this isn't going anywhere

Personal attacks aren't very flattering you know.

[sniffa]

35. you caLL that a personaL attack?

:eyes:

[anti_shrub]

36. Fine

How bout I call you "niggy" then and see how many alerts that sets off?

You clearly only know about this story what is contained in the article in the OP, which doesn't tell the full story, then you act all superior when I try to tell you the real reason the guy got kicked off the show.

I just wanted to set the record straight since as a fan I get tired of people bashing wrestling over stuff that isn't even correct.

[sniffa]

37. *snort*

yeah, you're taLking to someone who doesn't know anything about wrestLing. :rofl:

[anti_shrub]

43. You might know wrestling

But you don't seem to know about why Hassan is off SD if you think it's because of the scared white people.

[jobycom]

38. That's a good question, actually

Seriously, would you have been as offended if it were a different type of beheading? It's impossible to separate the "arab" from the beheading image.

See, I'd have been offended by the stereotyping of Arabs, not by any discomfort from watching a beheading re-enactment. Is that how you felt, or were you upset by them making light of the beheading, or was it something else?

It seems to me that the only reason most people would be upset is because of the connection between the wrestler's religion/character and the actual terrorists, and that's religion and race. Would you have found it as inappropriate if it were, say, a white guy beheading the Undertaker in the same manner? I'm just not sure.

I'm really asking, not trying to accuse you of anything.

[aden_nak]

19. Actually, I gotta be honest with you here.

I watch a fair amount of wrestling. Now, the timing of the promo was unfortunate. It was shot four days before the bombings, and whether they should have pulled it or not is a question I won't tackle. That being said, the WWE has been playing with this "Anti-American Arabs" angle for a little too long, and it was bound to blow up in their faces sooner or later. It's sad because, as it's been noted, Hassan is actually a very good in-ring performer.

[dogday]

25. They have been doing this kind of act since

I can remember. They have had the Germans, Russians, French,Canadians etc.... This is just plain ridiculous....

[Fescue4u]

29. Well if he's emulating a "terrorist like attack"

Then it was in pretty poor taste and should be taken off.

If nothing else its supposed to be entertainment and if folks find it offensive, then the show certainly isnt meeting its original goals (entertaining & sponsership $$)

Of course pro wrestling IS usually in poor taste, nobody will proably notice. :0

[AX10]

30. The McMahon monkeys should have been aborted. I hate Vince McMahon.

As much as I hate Joe Lieberman, just remind me of McMahon and Co and I'll proudly vote for Lieberman on election day.

[donco6]

31. I see a character reassignment in his future.

Maybe it can come out that he's been a double-agent all along.

Hey, anything can happen in RAWland.

[MrBenchley]

47. Do they still have rasslin' hillbillies?

He can grow a beard and talk Southern...like Haystacks Calhoun.

[anti_shrub]

52. Not since the mid 80s

Where it appears your opinon of wrestling is stuck firmly in.

[MrBenchley]

57. My opinion of wrestling is that it's a dismal farce for pinheads...

as this silly story shows...

[anti_shrub]

61. So I guess there's a lot of "pinheads" on DU....

Maybe one day we'll all be as enlightened as you are.

This thread is making me realize Bob Boudelang isn't so much of a parody after all.

[MrBenchley]

64. It doesn't take much enlightenment

to realize that a "sport" in which a flabby Italian-American is suspended for following the script that called for him to pretend to be an "Islamo-fascist" (as right wing loonies say) is a mighty ugly spectacle for the not very bright.

"Bob Boudelang isn't so much of a parody after all"
How true that is...he's a wrestling fan!

"That was after Our Great President George W. Bush was visited by Crown Prince Abdulla of Saudi Arabia. I remember Prince Abdulla from years ago when he would wrestle Haystacks Calhoun, and am glad to see him back in the limelight. "

http://www.democraticunderground.com/bob/02/39.html

[anti_shrub]

78. Just for your edification....

He look "Flabby" to you?

[drbtg1]

42. I recall reading a while back about a line WWE won't cross

In spite of all the stuff WWE will do, there are no guns, no knifes.

Does any of our more pro-wrestling savvy DU members know if that's still true? (I'm not defending them; just curious.)

[MrBenchley]

49. I suspect it is....

The last thing this bunch wants is for fans to start taking shots at them from the crowd...as it is they get pelted with pennies and the like...

By the way, it has always amused me that even though Vince McMahon had one of his flabby goons (Steve 3:16) openly make fun of the Bible on TV, people like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson never said so much as boo about it.

[anti_shrub]

51. Actually they have been

Vince was one of the few people to stand up to the PTC, he won a million dollar lawsuit and made them post an apology on their website since they were harrassing WWE's advertisers.

[MrBenchley]

56. The lawsuit didn't involve McMahon mocking the Bible...

but instead involved kids not in on the joke imitating for real what his flabby "warriors" staged in the ring...

All in all, it's just a shame the parties involved didn't fight it out with automatic weapons...

"Bozell also used the accusations to try and scare advertisers away from WWE television programming like "Smackdown!", then commended advertisers for dropping their ads when they never advertised on the shows in the first place.
As part of the seven-figure court settlement, Bozell has posted a retraction and apology on the PTC web site, which must stay online for six months. It's not too terribly public a retraction, mind you; the link is buried at the bottom of the PTC home page, and don't expect it to stay there a day past six months (which is why ConWebWatch has its own copy)....
That's quite a change from Bozell's initial response to the WWE lawsuit, which he called "one of the most malicious and dishonest pleadings ever placed before a court." The PTC also called the lawsuit "so outrageous that it is now being examined by our attorneys in consideration of a counter-claim for libel."
Left unsettled are charges made in the original WWE suit of deceptive fund-raising, alleging that the PTC is merely a front for the MRC and that funds solicited by the two groups are comingled. "

http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2002/ptcretract.html

[anti_shrub]

60. Did a bully in your grade school become a wrestler or what?

I don't get why you have such an intense hatred of wrestling.

You don't like it, fine. But quit acting like Vince personally shit in your cornflakes.

"Flabby warriors"? Hell most wrestlers are on some type of human growth hormone and are jacked to the gills.

As far as the lawsuit goes, the Tate story was just the last straw. The PTC was on the WWF's back for over a year up to that. They had every show on UPN dissected on the PTC site looking for anything to boycott an advertiser over.

[MrBenchley]

66. Gee, it's simple-minded and dishonest

"such an intense hatred of wrestling"
I don't hate it--I said it was a preposterous spectacle that only the really dimwitted could take seriously. I'll remind YOU that the story starting this thread explains that the "Arab terrorist" is Italian-American....

"The PTC was on the WWF's back for over a year up to that. "
Then it shouldn't be any problem for you to show us where they pissed and moaned about one of Vince's lardbuckets making fun of the Bible...

[MN ChimpH8R]

70. Most fans don't take it seriously

It isn't a competitive sport and anyone with an IQ over room temp knows it. Pro wrestling is a live action comic book: a bunch of highly skilled stuntmen pretending to beat the snot out of each other, sometimes doing so within the context of amusing or entertaining storylines. Some of us read insider newsletters that that detail the behind-the-scenes politicking, insider info, and backstabbing, which is often more entertaining than what gets on TV.

A harmless pastime as long as one knows it is just a show. That still doesn't excuse the Mohammad Hassan storyline.

[MrBenchley]

71. I agree...

"a bunch of highly skilled stuntmen pretending to beat the snot out of each other"
You DO realize "highly skilled" is kind of a funny word in normal contexts, I hope...

"A harmless pastime as long as one knows it is just a show."
Agreed...but the danger is that some (perhaps many) of its fans do NOT, either because they are too young to know better, overly gullible, or somewhat unhinged from reality.

[MN ChimpH8R]

72. They have to be pretty skilled at what they do

because they'd kill each other if they weren't. It's very difficult and dangerous to pull off some of those moves in real time, where there are no second takes, and make it possible to willingly suspend disbelief.

At its best, wrestling is a minor guilty pleasure, like a good action movie. I have never liked the angles that verge on (or lapse into) racism. No excuse for that. Ever.

[MrBenchley]

75. In that narrow sense of the word...

And I'm sure they do get injured quite a bit...

By the way, who was the wrestler who got killed a few years ago when he was getting lowered into the ring from the ceiling of an arena? Was he part of the Hart family?

[anti_shrub]

77. Owen Hart

He was supposed to rappel from the ceiling, but the harness he was wearing gave way and he fell 60 feet to his death.

[MrBenchley]

79. Wasn't there a lawsuit by the family about that?

[anti_shrub]

74. A famous saying

Is that the difference between boxing and pro wrestling is that now at least wrestling's honest about staging bouts.

Most wrestling fans know its entertainment and the ones that don't are probably Bush voters anyway.

[jmm]

48. To summarize

He was forced to take a leave of absence for having poor enough taste to go along with a script that he most likely would've been fired for not going along with.

[MN ChimpH8R]

55. The _character_ is getting a leave of absence

Mark Copani, who played that character, is still on the payroll. He went out and performed the skit he was told to perform. The decision to air it has nothing to do with the wrestler and everything to do with Vince and Stephanie McMahon. They won't penalize the wrestler for doing what he was told to do. He can't be blamed for the McMahons' crassness - he's just a working stiff who has to follow the boss' orders.

I've watched rasslin' (for $hits and giggles) most of my life, and this was one of the most tasteless things I've ever seen. The heat has come from Arab-American groups, and rightly so.

[MrBenchley]

69. An old friend of mine worked in Stamford, Connecticut

around the corner from the (then) WWF headquarters....it always used to crack her up to see the wrestlers who were supposed to be mortal enemies in the ring sitting together quietly in coffeeshops and diners eating lunch...especially because many of them would not remove their warpaint for the midday break....

[SemiCharmedQuark]

53. I believe the Arab American Defamation league were concerned.

And I can see why. This just enforces another bad stereotype.

[sakabatou]

63. Anything for money, huh?

[The Stranger]

76. Wow. That could be the most racist, bigoted, hate-inspired action I have

read in a decade. No one going to speak out about this?

When do the lynchings start?