Muhammad Hassan
By Scott Keith on 18 December 2019
Was it true that Muhammad Hassan was supposed to win the Word Championship from Batista at SummerSlam 2005, but it was scrapped when they ran the terrorist angle on Smackdown the same day as the London Bombings, and then UPN didn't want the Hassan character on Smackdown from that point forward? I always felt sorry for that guy who played Hassan. He had a good look and wasn't terrible in the ring. You would've thought if it was true that they had those big plans for him that they would've sent him to Raw instead, or just repackaged him altogether.
You'd think, but yeah, Hassan had some really toxic heat from fans and the network and I think everyone just felt like it was best to get him off TV for a while, and then he never came back. But original plan was for him beat Batista at Summerslam, yeah. He was put into a really bad position from day one with that kind of character in the modern world, starting out as a commentary on racism and then suddenly morphing into a terrorist. Apparently he's much happier now as a teacher.