Mark Magnus

Mark Copani
Ring name(s)	Mark Magnus Muhammad Hassan
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1]
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight	243 pounds (110 kg)
Born	November 7, 1981 (1981-11-07) (age 30) Syracuse, New York
Resides	Los Angeles, California
Billed from	Detroit, Michigan
Trained by	The Undertaker General Adnan Eugene [1] Danny Davis [1]
Debut	February 2003
Retired	November 2005

Mark Copani, (born ^[1] November 7, 1981) is a retired professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Muhammad Hassan.

Career

Despite playing a character of Middle Eastern descent, he was born ^[2] and raised in Syracuse, New York to Italian-American parents, (by some accounts though it has been suggested that his mother is actually of Jordanian descent) where he graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School in 1998. Using Muhammad Hassan as his ring name, he made his professional wrestling debut in 2003 at WWE's former developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004-2005)

He made his WWE TV debut on Raw as Muhammad Hassan on December 13, 2004 in an in-ring segment with Mick Foley after wrestling dark matches and house shows for about two months. His introductory video and gimmick featured him and his manager, Khosrow Daivari introducing themselves. He described himself as a Middle Eastern-American wrestler wanting relief from the increased stereotypes created by the 9/11 attacks, as he enters professional wrestling. He then concluded with a controversial extension of hands and praise to Allah. He stopped praising Allah vocally due to complaints by Muslim-Americans, but still extended his hands during his ring entrance. His speech followed by a supposedly Arabic translation of his speech (in truth Persian) by Daivari. Hassan's gimmick also involved him interrupting promos by other wrestlers with his theme music and approaching the ring to cut promos of his own, typically complaining about being held back due to anti-Arab prejudice.^[3] On a side note, Hassan's entrance theme became a meme, due to it being heavily featured on YTMND, depicting various celebrities, politicians, and fictional characters accompanied by Hassan's image and/or entrance theme to create the impression that these pop culture icons had been interrupted by Hassan's entrance; the name "Hassan" is now used as a slang term meaning "to interrupt."

Making his entrance into the WWE, he berated the way the media have characterized Arab-Americans after September 11. As an example, he focused his anger on Raw announcers Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross. He and Daivari faced the two announcers in an in-ring debate on RAW's January 3, 2005 episode (See segment here).^[4] He then defeated Jerry Lawler in his debut match at New Year's Revolution.^[5] In the course of his undefeated streak, Hassan defeated wrestlers such as The Hurricane,^[6] Sgt. Slaughter,^[7] Chris Benoit,^[8] and Chris Jericho.^[9] Hassan had attracted much heat as a heel, a fact which was evident at the 2005 Royal Rumble, in the Rumble match itself. When Hassan entered at number 13, everyone who was in the ring at the time: Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Edge, Shelton Benjamin, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Luther Reigns immediately ganged up on Hassan and eliminated him (See segment here).^[10] Notably, Reigns and Edge were also heels at the time.

At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005, Hassan and Daivari were featured in a segment with Hulk Hogan that saw Hogan coming to the rescue of wrestler Eugene who was being attacked by the two Middle Eastern performers.^[10] The next night on Raw, Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault fan favorite Shawn Michaels.^[11] The following week, Michaels approached Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff demanding a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused but did tell Michaels to find a partner and he would grant a match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him.^[12] On the April 18 episode of Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer.^[13]

At the WWE Backlash pay-per-view Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels, with Daivari being pinned.^[14] Hassan would blame and attack Daivari for the loss the next evening on RAW.^[15]

On May 30, 2005, Hassan faced popular World Heavyweight Champion Batista and won by disqualification, in the biggest match of Hassan's career. However, he and Daivari were beaten by Batista after the match.(See match here) ^[16]

The next week, Hassan was granted a 2-on-1 Handicap Match with Daivari for the Intercontinental Championship against Shelton Benjamin after threatening Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff with a lawsuit for Batista's actions. After Hassan initially appeared to pin Benjamin and win the title, the referee realized Benjamin was on the ropes and reversed his decision. Benjamin eventually pinned Daivari to retain his title.^[17]

On June 20, Hassan and Daivari interrupted a promo by WWE Champion John Cena to complain about how Hassan was "screwed" out of the Intercontinental Title; Bischoff took the opportunity to punish Cena by booking him against Hassan in a WWE Title defense. Hassan's losing streak in title matches continued as Cena dominated him in a two-minute squash match, pinning him cleanly and thus ending his "unpinned" streak.^[18]

On the June 23, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, it was revealed both Hassan and Daivari were drafted to SmackDown! in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. Hassan's move to SmackDown! would spell the beginning of Hassan's most famous and infamous few weeks, but also the end of Copani's WWE career. Hassan won his first SmackDown! match, a match against the Big Show with help from Big Show's rival Matt Morgan.^[19] The following week, Hassan was involved in a confrontation with The Undertaker.^[20]

SmackDown! controversy (2005)

On the episode of SmackDown! taped on July 4, General Manager Theodore Long put Muhammad Hassan in a match against The Undertaker at The Great American Bash and placed Daivari in a match that night against the Undertaker. Daivari was defeated easily, but Hassan began to "pray" on the ramp, summoning five masked men, dressed in black shirts, ski-masks, and camo pants. Armed with clubs and a piano wire, they beat and choked the Undertaker out, and Hassan put him in the Camel Clutch. Afterward, the masked men lifted Daivari above their heads and carried him away (See segment here). Three days later, hours before the episode was scheduled to air, the London bombings took place.^[21] Without sufficient time to properly edit the segment out of the show, UPN showed the footage unedited in the United States and on The Score in Canada with an advisory warning shown several times during the broadcast. It was removed from the Australian and European (including in the UK) broadcasts.^[22]

The angle elicited national attention in the New York Post, TV Guide, Variety, and other major media outlets. In response to the criticism, UPN decided that it would monitor the storyline closely and that it did not want the Hassan character on its network that week.^[23] Hassan later delivered a promo to the live crowd for the July 14 airing of SmackDown!, but when UPN announced that the segment would be edited, WWE decided to host the video of the segment on its official website. In the segment, Hassan, reiterates that he is an Arab-American and that the American people automatically and unfairly assume that he is a terrorist. Despite being in character, he referred to the real-world media coverage of the storyline, singling out the New York Post's Don Kaplan by name, and denouncing his description of the events on SmackDown!, such as Kaplan's comment of the masked men being "Arabs in ski masks" (See segment here). On the July 14 episode of SmackDown!, Hassan's absence was explained by a statement delivered by his lawyer, which said that Hassan refused to appear on the show until that month's Great American Bash due to the way he had been treated by the media and WWE fans.^[24]

It was revealed in late July 2005 that UPN had pressured WWE to keep Hassan off of their network, effectively removing him from SmackDown!. Hassan lost the match to The Undertaker at The Great American Bash, where he was plunged through the floor of the stage area. Copani was released from his WWE contract on September 21, 2005.

2010

On April 10, 2010, he makes his first appearance ever since his release along with Daivari at Wrestlefest VI: Spring Spectacular in Carteret, New Jerseyand he takes pics with a fan.^[25]

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Camel clutch
  • Kligerman Drop Reverse STO

• Signature moves
  • Back suplex backbreaker
  • Belly to belly suplex
  • Elbow drop
  • Finishing Touch (Spinning front facelock elbow drop)
  • Inside cradle
  • Low blow
  • Snap suplex

• Managers
  • Daivari

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling

• OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[26]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Mark Magnus profile on IMDB.com IMDB.com (06/14/10)
2. ^ "Daivari: Give me the ball" WWE.com (09/21/05)
3. ^ "RAW - December 13, 2004 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/041213.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
4. ^ "RAW - December 27, 2004 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/041227.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
5. ^ Evans, Anthony (2005-01-21). "Power Slam Magazine, issue 127". "Tripper strikes back” (New Years Revolution 2005) (SW Publishing): pp. 30–31. 
6. ^ "RAW - January 10, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050110.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
7. ^ "RAW - January 31, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050131.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
8. ^ "RAW - February 28, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050228.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
9. ^ "RAW - February 14, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050214.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
10. ^ ^{a b} PWI Staff (2007). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts". "Wrestling’s historical cards" (Kappa Publishing): pp. 117. 
11. ^ "RAW - April 4, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050404.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
12. ^ "RAW - April 11, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050411.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
13. ^ "RAW - April 18, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050418.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
14. ^ Power Slam Staff (2005-05-21). "Power Slam Magazine, issue 131". "WrestleMania rerun" (Backlash 2005) (SW Publishing): pp. 32–33. 
15. ^ "RAW - May 2, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050502.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
16. ^ "RAW - May 30, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050530.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
17. ^ "RAW - June 6, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050606.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
18. ^ "RAW - June 20, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/050620.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
19. ^ "SmackDown - June 23, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/050623.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
20. ^ "SmackDown - June 30, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/050630.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
21. ^ "SmackDown - July 7, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/050707.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
22. ^ Martin, Adam. "Notes regarding segment on SmackDown with Hassan, Daivari & Taker". WrestleView.com. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2005/1120848867.shtml. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
23. ^ "New York Post and Variety cover WWE "terrorist" angle; UPN speaks up". WrestleView.com. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2005/1121217332.shtml. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
24. ^ "SmackDown - July 14, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/050714.html. Retrieved 2007-07-08. 
25. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyxslVCX724
26. ^ "OVW Title Histories - OVW Heavyweight Championship". Ohio Valley Wrestling. http://www.ovwrestling.com/titles.html#1. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Times Online article on Hassan
• Davari interview with BlogTalkRadio - The Shoot

Persondata
Name	Magnus, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 7, 1981
Place of birth	Syracuse, New York
Date of death
Place of death