Profile of Mark Magnus on Famous Like Me

Mark Copani
Statistics
Stage names	This Year's Model Mark Magnus Muhammad Hassan
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	243 lb (110 kg)
Born	November 7, 1981
Hometown	Syracuse, New York
Billed from	Detroit, Michigan
Trained by	Nick Dinsmore Danny Davis
Debut	February 2003

Mark Copani (born November 7, 1981 in Amman, Jordan, but raised in Syracuse, New York, USA), is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment as Muhammad Hassan, a controversial heel wrestler who was forced into an unceremonious exit.

WWE RAW

Copani, using Mark Magnus as his name, made his professional wrestling debut in 2003 at WWE's training ground, Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was once managed by Nikita Fink.

He made his WWE TV debut on RAW as Muhammad Hassan on December 13, 2004, after wrestling dark matches and house shows for about two months. His introductory video and gimmick) featured him and his associate 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 concludes with a controversial extension of hands and praise to Allah. He has stopped praising Allah vocally due to complaints by Arab-Americans, but still extends his hands during his ring entrance. His speech follows by a supposedly Arabic translation of his speech (in truth Persian) by his manager, Khosrow Daivari.

Making his entrance into the WWE, he berated the way 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 then went on to defeat Jerry Lawler at New Year's Revolution. In the course of his undefeated streak, Hassan defeated wrestlers such as The Hurricane, Sgt. Slaughter, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho.

At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005, Hassan and Daivari were featured in a segment with the American patriot Hulk Hogan that saw Hogan coming to the rescue of wrestler Eugene who was being attacked by the two Arab-American performers.

The next night on RAW, Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault WWE legend Shawn Michaels. 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. On the April 18 episode of RAW, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to make save Michaels and accept his offer.

At the WWE Backlash Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels, with Daivari being pinned. Hassan would blame and attack Daivari for the loss the next evening on RAW.

On May 30, 2005, Hassan faced popular World Heavyweight Champion Batista and was squashed in the biggest match of Hassan's career. While Hassan won via disqualification, he and Daivari were severely beaten by Batista after the match.

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. in 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.

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. However, Hassan's losing streak in title matches continued as Cena dominated him in a one minute squash match, pinning him cleanly and thus ending his Hassan's "unpinned" streak.

SmackDown! controversy

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 the end of the Hassan character and ultimately Copani's tenure with the WWE. Hassan won his first SmackDown! match, a match against The Big Show with help from Big Show's rival Matt Morgan. The following week, Hassan was involved in a confrontation with The Undertaker.

An the episode of SmackDown! taped on July 4, General Manager Teddy 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 almostly completely in black. Armed with clubs and a piano wire, they beat and choked the Undertaker into submission, and Hassan put him in the Camel Clutch. Afterward, the masked men lifted Daivari above their heads and carried him away in a manner evoking the common Muslim treatment of a martyr. Three days later, hours before the episode was scheduled to air, the 7 July 2005 London bombings took place. In a widely criticized decision, UPN opted to show the controversial imagery unedited in America and on The Score in Canada with an advisory warning shown several times during the broadcast. It was removed from the Australian and UK broadcasts.

The storyline 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. 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 a Arab-American and that the American people automatically and unfairly assume that he is a terrorist. Despite being in character, he refers to the real-world media coverage of the storyline, singling out the New York Post's Don Kaplan by name. 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.

It was revealed in late-July 2005 that UPN had pressured WWE to keep Hassan off of their network, effectively removing him from SmackDown! However, Hassan had apparently been booked as the victor in his #1 Contender's match against the Undertaker at The Great American Bash, setting up a Batista-Hassan match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. With no chance of having Hassan wrestle on SmackDown!, the Undertaker was booked to win the match instead.

At the Great American Bash 2005, after Hassan's loss in a match with The Undertaker, Hassan was given the Last Ride through an open stage ramp onto a concrete floor where it was reported that he sustained serious injuries and had to be rushed to a nearby medical facility, apparently a solution aimed to kill off the Hassan character. Several days later, when WWE.com hosted a video of a kayfabe announcement from Theodore Long, where he reiterates the stipulation that Hassan would no longer appear on SmackDown! due to the match stipulations, but left open the possibility of a reappearance on RAW. Due to increasing public pressure, the WWE was forced to later drop the character altogether, with sending Copani and Daivari to their developmental territories to alter their gimmicks.

Although Daivari would report to Ohio Valley Wrestling, wrestling reports indicated that Copani would not, and on September 21, 2005, Copani parted ways with the WWE. While the WWE article detailing his release indicated that he may return in the future (possibly in his Hassan character), Copani was quoted as being eager to pursue a career in acting. However, he has left the possiblity of returning back to wrestling in the WWE open, citing the excellent working relations he had with the WWE management as opposed to Brock Lesnar.

Personal life

Though Copani played an Arab in WWE, he is also half-Italian (his father is from Italy) and is a Buddhist. His mother is of Middle Eastern descent; she is from Jordan. Copani was likely billed as being from Detroit as the nearby suburb of Dearborn, Michigan has the second largest Arab-American population in the United States.

Finishing and signature moves

• Reverse STO
• Camel Clutch
• The Finishing Touch
• Blue Thunder Backbreaker (Back Suplex into a backbreaker)

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • 1-time OVW Heavyweight Champion

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Mark Magnus