Hassan-gate

[MattPickstock]

This is originally an email I sent in reply to a editorial on lordsofpain.net written by PhantonLord. The column bears the same name as this thread for anyone who is interested in reading it.... I encourage many of you to do just that....

**E-MAIL REPLY BEGINS**
Hello...

My name is Matt Pickstock, and I have read your column
on LOP for some time now... Let me tell you that I am
a fan... You are certainly 100 times better than that
Tito guy....

Anyway I read your column on Hassan Gate and this is
something I feel I need to voice my opinion over. And
I would be flattered if you include my feedback in
your next column.

When Muhammed Hussan came to WWE, I though that it was
tasteless and dis-respectful. And that is a lot
considering I am Canadian and most Canucks despise
Bush's war against Iraq, including myself. But that
is another argument for a different platform. Back to
Hassan... I hated the character and the angle, but he
slowly grew on me. With his in-ring ability I became a
fan. Don't get me wrong, Hassan was no HBK, Angle or
Bret Hart, but he showed potential inside the ring.

On the mic, the man was great. Look past what he was
saying and look at how he delivered it. A lot of your
readers need to realize that this man was playing a
part... He was acting. The higher ups at UPN
certainly need to realize this. The least they could
do was tell WWE that Hassan could stay if he would
undergo a face turn in the not to distant future. I
wouldn't have liked to see it, but that is the least
they could have done.

Instead, however, they pull him from TV. Which
subsequently makes everything he ever said about the
USA and the media 100% absolutely true. I don't mean
to offend you or any or your readers by that last
remark, but prove me wrong. UPN has made Hassan a
martyr for people who actually agred with the filth he
spewed forward on a WWE microphone.

But my other point is that when HHH produced a video
of Kane raping a dead girl, neither Kane nor HHH were
pulled from WWE Television. And to me (a wrestling
fan of 20 years) that was almost enough for me to turn
off my TV. But a man who has several other men in
ski-masks attack the Undertaker and choke him out is?!
Come on. Can anyone remember when the Undertaker
himself had a minion of guys who CRUCIFIED Steve
Austin?! Was he taken off TV? No... He got the WWE
Title.

How many times has a man been choked out on WWE TV;
whether it be with a wire in a quote - unquote
"terrorist" outfit or by a camera cable or a flag or
something else that was just handy to grab?! Too many
times to count.

Was it bad timing? Sure it was. But nobody could have
predicted the horrifying events that took place that
day in London. Should the WWE, UPN or Hassan suffer?
Absolutely not!

Earlier this year, FOX produced the TV show 24, in
which Arabs were depicted as terrorists who were
willing to unleash a nuclear warhead on the U.S. In
one of the episodes, the terrorists actually bombed
Air Force One while it was in the air. To me (a
Canadian) that seems it would be more offensive to an
American than a guy being choked by WHITE MEN in ski
masks! White men; and not Arab-Americans like the media depicted! And anyone with
half a brain could see that! Why was it assumed that they were Arabs? Why was it assumed that they were terrorists?

But did FOX succumb to pressure to pull 24 from it's
TV line-up? No. In fact I don't think I remember any
controversy from that! But when it involves WWE the
ignorant public gets upset.

Y'know this may all be part of a bigger picture. And
this dates back to the PTC attacking the WWE for lude
and crude comments on their shows. If it happens on
JAG, or 24, or any other drama show; then it is OK.
But as soon as it happens on WWE (Sports
Entertainment) it should be banned and the character
responsible should be fired. Maybe WWE should stop
calling themselves Sports Entertainment and just call
themselves a Primetime Sports Drama. Maybe then they
will be given a fair shake.

Basically, anyone that found that offensive for any
other reason than the day it was shown; needs to take
their helmet off and give their head a shake. The WWE
has done more offensive and more tasteless things in
the past that went un-noticed. This is a tragedy that
a man will pretty much lose his job due to something
that the American media fears. AN AMERICAN MAN! And
I think that is what is being lost. Muhammed Hassan
is an Arab-American, but he is still an American! I
don't know how you treat people down there in the
States, but up here, it doesn't matter what color or
race you are, you get a fair shake... In fact up here,
we don't have Arab-Canadians, Asian-Canadians, African
Canadians... Everyone is a Canadian!

Perhaps that is the problem. Perhaps the American
media is just too racist to see the light. Not to say
that racism doesn't exist in Canada, but I have never
heard Canadians described in terms like I listed
above.

I know that I am ranting, but this topic opens up many
other avenues, and it just shows how angry I am. This
is a travesty that this has been allowed to happen by
UPN, the WWe, but most of all the American media.

Hopefully one day this will change. I for one,
certainly hope my kids aren't writing a similar e-mail
in ten years.

Anyway, keep up the good work Phantom Lord, and I'll
keep reading.

Matt Pickstock
-Napanee, Ontario, Canada

P.S. - I look forward to your feedback on this topic.
**E-MAIL REPLY ENDS**

Feedback? Yes, no?

 

[SamuelRoundtree]

Well,

For those of you who don't know me in real life, let me start of by saying I possess the most ironic name for a wrestling fan you could possibly have right now. My name is Mohamed Hussain(I know it's not the same, but joe wrestling fan would still be confused.).

The good folks at UPN, Viacom, and Brent Bozell must be in a collective circle jerk right now because, morality and decency finally won out in the war against terror ran by Vincent "don't call me Osama" McMahon. For years upon years we quasi-intelligent fans of wrestling have been told that it's evil, it's immoral and it is responsible for all of societies evils.

Between you and me I didn't know spider-holes and caves hiding seven foot tall brown guys were found in Stamford Connecticut.

I am so sick and tired of people *****ing and moaning about Muhammad Hassan. Truth be told, while the gimmick was questionable, the guy playing the role handled it brilliantly. From the pre-wrestling vignettes talking about how his world as an arab-American has changed since 9/11, to his in ring promos on guys like Michaels, Jericho, Cena and Hogan, he spoke with the passion that fans haven't seen in a character like that since the Iron Sheik's big run in the early 80's.

Hassan is/was the biggest pure heel the WWE has seen in a very long time.

I guess by definition I am an Arab-Canadian. And I should be disgusted, and I should be condemning Vince, creative and anyone who has ever sold a WWE t-shirt for the still putting Hassan's post-London attack on Taker on TV.

The problem is I am not. Everyday in this world **** happens and there is not a damn thing any of us are going to be able to do to stop that proverbial storm of feces from hitting the fan except for creating some race of super-rats that will destroy the world and pick us wrestling fans off one by one.

My 20 years as a wrestling fan have seen some horrible ideas last on TV much, much longer than this.

Come on, who really thought that Giant Gonzales would've ever made it to a WrestleMania (ironically against Taker)?

If Vince was really trying to add an element of reality to this, don't you think some George Bush impersonator would be brought out and slapped into the oh so dreaded Camel Clutch.
Network and so called "cable" television have bombarded us, "joe consumer" with images of people suffering, bodies being pulled out of rubble, and an endless barrage of promises that the so-called war on terror is going to be over before more lives are lost. So if the good folks at UPN can get a guy thrown off TV because they don't like what he says, does that mean if I ***** and moan enough, I will actually get the Simple Life off my TV because it offends everything I hold good and dear.

Once the liberal left and religious right that form our media removes their collective head from the sphincter of corporate america long enough to realize that the majority of us working folk actually use our brains for good and not evil and guys like Hassan are just trying to make a living, maybe, just maybe we can get back to the more important things in life like...

Who would win in a fight, the Michelin Man or the Good Humour Man?

Exactly what is Haagen-Dazs?

Exactly who thought head cheese was a good idea?

A quick side note before I ramble on too long here...

Why is it the same people always cry when something mildly "offensive" airs on TV. If they are so bothered by what is on TV, I heard that amish country needs some new barn raisers...

Yours truly,

Mohamed "Don't call me Muhammad" Hussain

 

[Sean Taylor]

Well put. I understood the pulling of Hassan off TV the week following the tradegy in London. Out of respect and sympathy for those who lost their lives in the bombings, I agree that Hassan should take the week off. However, I never expected nor do I agree with the killing off of his character.

Hassan is an American from Michigan. Many stereotypes have been protrayed in pro-wrestling in the past. Germans, Asians, Hawaiians playing Asians, Iranians, and even Canadians have all played the "I hate America" angle and it has always been a tried and true way to garner money at the gates. Realize, people, that this is what the WWE and any other wrestling company is about. Money. Hall of Famers Sgt. Slaughter and the Iron Shiek made careers playing racial characters. And frankly, I can remember a number of instances where those men performed stunts that were much more offensive than anything Hassan has ever done. Slaughter burned the American flag live on national TV which I'm pretty sure if it isn't illegal then it's treated at such. Hassan was all talk. But apparently it was enough.

When Hassan first showed up I thought "Great. Another racial gimmick. Just like La Resistance, he'll fizzle inside of a year." And yeah he grew on me. Probably not as much as some people but enough that I didn't change the channel anymore when he came on. The challenge was to get Hassan over. Problem was he went over too well OR he went over with the wrong people.

The American media - tv, newspapers, radio - are run by one man. The white man. The same kind of white man that sits in the White House right now. The white man is a racist prick and there have been several wars based on white men hating other cultures for nothing but they're different. Obviously, this isn't all white men and (hopefully) those numbers are shrinking. But the fact is fact and right now those white men run the media. And I think it's also pretty clear that most people - American or otherwise - are highly influenced by the opinions they read in the paper, see on TV, and/or hear on the raido or from their friends. It's sad but it's true.

That's the reason Hassan's character is dead. The reality is that wrestling is still looked at like a primitive, "stupid", "fake" form of entertainment. There are people everywhere that will stop at nothing to insult wrestling and/or bring it down. We all know it. I'll put $500 down and say that one point or another we have all sat in a group of non-fans and said nothing while the group trashed the business. Jeff Jarrett said it best: "For the non-believers, no explanation is good enough. For the believers, no explaination is necessary."

We get it. They don't. That's fine. But when someone with power influences the opinions of other small minded people with power with opinions based on a stupid, petty pet peeve against one form of entertainment. Fans know that Hassan is just a character who we're supposed to hate. The problem is those white men don't know what the fans know. Fans these days are a lot smarter than they used to be. Those white men are not.

Was it a case of bad timing? Yeah. But it was taken too far. I may not have liked the character but I do respect his talents and abilities inside the ring. Bottom line is a man (assumingly) lost his job because someone else didn't do the research that as a "journalist" he should have. Everything Hassan said about people judging and mistreating him because of how he looks has been 100% verified.

Think about this: If this same situation had happened in any other business, the guy who was fired could sue the employer for millions, win instantly, and live his life as a rich, rich man.

Derek MacFarlane
- White man sometimes ashamed of the colour of his skin

 

[T. Waring]

i know this might sound wierd, but in a magasine in England based on wrestling there was a question, Is Muhammed Hassen really arab-american. I laughed as i read the reply but then i stopped laughing when the answer was.........its Itailien-american. This reply made me think. He real name is nothing to do with the arab tradition

Also, I am unhappy with the way UPN and WWE handled the case. They literally took him off the air with the last ride thing and another man is also getting a bad deal here and that is Davari. Where will he go now. I liked him as Hussians manager. Will he be fired like the rest of the non-performing stars of WWE. Or will he go to the badly managed, got no time for, WWe cruiserweight division. Who knows. Ill certainly be interested though.

Tom

 

[Larry Serson]

Due to the resent downfall of the WWE it has become a growing concern not only to me but to alot of other friends of mine. Since's Matt's, Derek's and Moh's postings I have been able to read the LOP website and I am total agreeance with everything that was said from them 3. Now personally I am very FRUSTRATED with not only the way WWE handled the situation but UPN pushing there power around. UPN thinks that they own the world because they are showing WWE, however without the WWE in that slot time do they actually think that they would have a show that could live up to what the WWE shows there?? Presonally, I am hoping that Vince opens his eyes and pulls from that **** hole station and moves on to bigger and better things because he has enough money to move on and move forward.

Now, I was just reading a post on LOP - "WWE is taking some heat from industry critics for booking Eugene on that same show. Because the event was sponsored by the Disabled Persons Action Organization, the feeling was that WWE's use of a character exploiting a mental handicap was in poor taste." NOW THIS IS GETTING F**KING RIDICULIOUS, first we can't have an Arab-American on TV and now people are getting offended that Eugene is working a great angle, sure it protrays a mentally handicapped person, but as we all know the mentally challenged can be just as if not more important and talented then the regular joe. I am really getting SICK and F**KIN tired of people complaining over the littlest things in the world, as thought it seems that the press has nothing better to do lately then get on the back of the WWE and Vince McMahon. This has become one of the worse years for us wrestling fans, we have been fans for over 20 years, since gimmicks come and go, but personally both Hassan's and Eugene's are 2 that the crowd really gets into and now that we have lost Hassan, we hopefully won't lose Eugene's character, because personally, I like him and he can always manage to bring a smile to my face.

Well that is my little rant for now.

Larry

 

[The Moundfields]

As a Brit, the idea that Hassan was pulled because he may cause offense after the London Bombings is ridiculous. Yes it was bad timing but that's just the way things go sometimes.

Hassan was not a suicide bomber, he was not a funadmanetalist, he was an Arab-American who told the truth. And it's the same truth for Arab-Brits and the majority of other minority groups in the over-sensitised, post-9/11, white, middle class ruled western world. It wasn't important that Hassan was not really an Arab-American, because he was portraying an important message. My biggest disappointment is that the WWE and UPN gave into the right-wing media and pulled Hassan. They should of stuck up for their beliefs and not their bank balance. But, business is business and just like after 9/11 when songs by The Clash, Rage Against The Machine, Elton John and even "Imagine" by John Lennon amongst many others were banned from the radio, over-sensitivity tends to win out in order to not offend people, but in the process manages to offend pretty much everyone else by patronising them!

Whether you're based in the UK, USA, Canada, Austrailia, or one of the many other nations of our multi-cultural little corner of the fwrestling world, chances are you live in a democracy. The treatment of Hassan goes against everything that was fought for to enforce democracy in World War II and everything that was fought for to stop the Nazi regime. It's just another race related injustice, which makes me sick.

Mike Coxon

 

[Apocalypse]

I don't mean to sound ignorant but did the WWE seriously get rid of Hassan? I agree with all the sentiments about him being a great heel. But that is shocking if they did take him off. The whole execution deal with the Undertaker was just bad, unfortunate timing on the WWE's part. Nothing can be done about it.

I think his mike work is excellent and Davari is also a part of that team. He brings the heel factor to the group.

 

[Jay_Smash]

*Begins a slow clap... tries to pick up... nobody joins in.... Clapping all alone... Stops clapping...* YOU SUCK!