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The W - Pro Wrestling - UPN to WWE, no more Hassan...ever (Page 3)
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The Vile1
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Since: 4.9.02
From: California

Since last post: 5447 days
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#41 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.10
    Originally posted by PizzaMan
    Eh. So, now UPN is censoring us on what is right and wrong? Didn't realize UPN was of such high moral fabric. Eh. What gets me though, is this.

    How many of you are Soprano fans? Did you know, that the mafia actually exsists as well? Yup, sure does. Guess we'll have to take that off, as it may offend....

    There's a damn on/off button on your tv. There's even a channel up/channell down button on your tv. Some tv's have remotes, so you can switch the channel right from your lazy-boy.

    All this hubbub, it's amazing. I didn't even know anyone watched Smackdown still!


Well when the mafia starts flying planes into buildings and taping people getting their heads cut off, let me know.




"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!"
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Since: 16.1.02
From: The Off-Center of the Universe (aka Philadelphia)

Since last post: 3698 days
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#42 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.01
    Originally posted by Jim Smith
      Originally posted by OMEGA
      Dave Meltzer is reporting that WWE is now dropping the character completely:

      We've had confirmation that WWE is planning on dropping the Muhammad Hassan character due to all the negative publicity, so he won't be moving to Raw.


    So what happens to Mark Magnus? Does he get a new gimmick? It's hard to imagine anyone accepting him as an entirely new character, and even harder to picture WWE putting any effort into repackaging him.

    I really hope this story doesn't end with a guy getting fired for doing a really good job following really stupid orders.

    (edited by Jim Smith on 21.7.05 1842)


Maybe it's time to dig out Hogan's old Mr. America mask ...



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Since: 2.1.02
From: Philly Suburbs

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#43 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.05
    Originally posted by PizzaMan
    Eh. So, now UPN is censoring us on what is right and wrong? Didn't realize UPN was of such high moral fabric. Eh. What gets me though, is this.

    How many of you are Soprano fans? Did you know, that the mafia actually exsists as well? Yup, sure does. Guess we'll have to take that off, as it may offend....

    There's a damn on/off button on your tv. There's even a channel up/channell down button on your tv. Some tv's have remotes, so you can switch the channel right from your lazy-boy.

    All this hubbub, it's amazing. I didn't even know anyone watched Smackdown still!

Buzz!

People pay HBO to watch The Sopranos, while UPN is a basic cable station. You can bet that if TS drove down subscriptions of HBO, HBO would drop the show in an instant.

Additionally, HBO doesn't have to worry about placating advertisers. UPN does. If they feel that the Hassan character will drive away advertisers and/or produce severely negative press, then it's only common business sense that they'd object to having the character on their air waves on a show they are paying to air.

People are acting like they had Austin-at-his-peak-drawing-power removed from the show. It's only Hassan.



ekedolphin
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Since: 12.1.02
From: Indianapolis, IN; now residing in Suffolk, VA

Since last post: 480 days
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#44 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.52
Wow. WWE's decision to remove Hassan from their programming really brings up a lot of questions. So does this mean no match at SummerSlam? If so, does this make Undertaker the #1 contender by default? And if there is a match at SummerSlam, will Hassan be "reformed" by it, and return to SD! under a different name with a better appreciation of America? Is Mark Magnus gone for good, or will he become simply "Mark Magnus" or be repackaged in a few months? And what of Daivari?

A lot of very interesting questions they've brought up.



“Great. He spends skill points on Perform (Kazoo), and now I have to make a Knowledge (Limits of My Own Sanity) skill check."
--Roy Greenhilt, The Order of the Stick

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Texas Kelly
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Since: 3.1.02
From: FOREST HILLS CONTROLS THE UNIVERSE

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#45 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.15
I don't know about you, but right now, I'm fervently praying that WWE is just trying to work us with this.

Seriously, this isn't right just on the level that Mark Magnus's career would be totally destroyed by this (Jim Smith is right - he'll always be Muhammad Hassan and he won't be able to get over as anything else), and I'm seriously considering boycotting all UPN programming if this is how it pans out, just as a personal protest.



e-mail me at texas (dot) kelly (at) gmailread a bunch of incoherent nonsense
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It's good to see that the WWE isn't backing away from Batista or Cena. There's still some questions lingering over a few of the draft moves they either made or didn't make (Jericho being a prime example), but the stage is set for a solid run to Summerslam that may send the indicator down. The longer Triple H stays away is also a plus...
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Since: 24.2.02
From: Bowels

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#46 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.73
If you were against the pseudo-terrorist thing a few weeks back, that's certainly understandable, but this makes no sense.


    ...the morons who "agree" with Hassan's character

I'm not sure how you mean that to sound...maybe I'm just a "moron" (classy!). If you mean people who agree with him in the respect that they're going to go jump a guy with five friends wearing black masks and desert camouflage pants, you are correct.

But Hassan's has something few wrestling bad guys can achieve...they may be the bad guy, but they also may be "right." Yeah, WWE is too inept to really maximize that, but it's nice to have a little variety. I don't care if you think Hassan is a horrible character or not, it beats the piss out of the "Boogeyman." No, I don't need to see the character on TV to make that decision, and neither should anyone else.

This is really stupid, especially considering the average viewer's attention span. In another few weeks, no one would remember the Hassan controversy.


    People are acting like they had Austin-at-his-peak-drawing-power removed from the show. It's only Hassan.

And if WWE had an "Austin-at-his-peak" right now, that would make sense. Smackdown only has one guy even a little bit in that category, but he never wrestles anyway and is past his prime. Anyone who generates interest who is removed is a loss.


    I didn't even know anyone watched Smackdown still!

Much like Hillary Clinton bashing Grand Theft Auto, I'm sure a lot of the people who are STILL complaining to UPN haven't even seen the segment in question, let alone anything else with Hassan's character.

(edited by KaneRobot on 21.7.05 2038)


http://muhammadhassan.ytmnd.com
The Vile1
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Since: 4.9.02
From: California

Since last post: 5447 days
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#47 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.08
    Originally posted by KaneRobot
    >And if WWE had an "Austin-at-his-peak" right now, that would make sense. Smackdown only has one guy even a little bit in that category, but he never wrestles anyway and is past his prime. Anyone who generates interest who is removed is a loss.


Where's the proof that Hassan was generating the kind of interest they want. When they have a character that's compared to the terrorists that have currently attacked London . . . I doubt that's the kind of interest and controversy WWE wants.




"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!"
-Edward Elric
BigSteve
Pepperoni








Since: 23.7.04
From: Baltimore, MD

Since last post: 6276 days
Last activity: 6004 days
#48 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.87
    Originally posted by The Vile1
      Originally posted by KaneRobot
      >And if WWE had an "Austin-at-his-peak" right now, that would make sense. Smackdown only has one guy even a little bit in that category, but he never wrestles anyway and is past his prime. Anyone who generates interest who is removed is a loss.


    Where's the proof that Hassan was generating the kind of interest they want. When they have a character that's compared to the terrorists that have currently attacked London . . . I doubt that's the kind of interest and controversy WWE wants.


Of course this is what Vince McMahon wants - mainstream media attention, good or bad. I doubt that Hassan is a drawing card at this point, but right now, I'm pretty sure that Vince is just happy that he has people talking about this character that looked to be dead in the water on Raw.

(edited by BigSteve on 21.7.05 2054)


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Since: 27.3.04

Since last post: 6567 days
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#49 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.79
>Well when the mafia starts flying planes into buildings and >taping people getting their heads cut off, let me know.

Response: I can't say for a FACT that the mafia cut anyone's heads off, but....

Are you trivializing (Spelling?) the deaths of those who were murdered by the mafia? Sure, the mafia didn't fly a plane into a building (BTW, that's not what the fury is about, my friend. The fury, is they aired a show with "Terrorists" on a tv show the same day some terrorists acted on there stupidity).

What i was POINTING out, was .... if we take off everything that offends us .. then you might as well throw your tv away. Do it, right now.

And your radio.

Don't open the newspaper.

Probably shouldn't go outside either.

>Buzz!

People pay HBO to watch The Sopranos, while UPN is a basic cable station. You can bet that if TS drove down subscriptions of HBO, HBO would drop the show in an instant.

Additionally, HBO doesn't have to worry about placating advertisers. UPN does. If they feel that the Hassan character will drive away advertisers and/or produce severely negative press, then it's only common business sense that they'd object to having the character on their air waves on a show they are paying to air.

People are acting like they had Austin-at-his-peak-drawing-power removed from the show. It's only Hassan.

Response: Your probably right. I won't argue with that. And UPN is doing the same thing. I understand that. There still censoring what your watching, right?

Is there ANY proof that the outcry from this "controversy" has cost UPN any money? Probably not. I don't have the numbers, and i'm sure some one here does or will, but what were the ratings for Smackdown the week before, the week of, and the week after this happend.

Bet there wasn't any change.

Wrestling fans are wrestling fans. You'll have your "Casuals" and you'll have your "I want to complainers" .. and then you'll have your "fans" ... three different segments of the spectrum.

It's just my .2 .... i'm not trying to offend anyone. I just really don't see what the big deal is. It's TV. I can seperate fact from fiction. And i'm sure some of you can too.

Was it in poor taste? It's up to each one of us to decide. Key word is DECIDE.

You take that element, that little six letter word away, and ,we're F***ed.



Thanks for reading! Want something more interesting to read? How about the history of Jim Crockett Promotions? Then go here: http://www.jcpwrestling.com
The Vile1
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Since: 4.9.02
From: California

Since last post: 5447 days
Last activity: 5179 days
#50 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.08
    Originally posted by BigSteve
      Originally posted by The Vile1
        Originally posted by KaneRobot
        >And if WWE had an "Austin-at-his-peak" right now, that would make sense. Smackdown only has one guy even a little bit in that category, but he never wrestles anyway and is past his prime. Anyone who generates interest who is removed is a loss.


      Where's the proof that Hassan was generating the kind of interest they want. When they have a character that's compared to the terrorists that have currently attacked London . . . I doubt that's the kind of interest and controversy WWE wants.


    Of course this is what Vince McMahon wants - mainstream media attention, good or bad. I doubt that Hassan is a drawing card at this point, but right now, I'm pretty sure that Vince is just happy that he has people talking about this character that looked to be dead in the water on Raw.

    (edited by BigSteve on 21.7.05 2054)


Obviously it isn't in light of recent reports.




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OMEGA
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Since: 18.6.02
From: North Cacalacky

Since last post: 5376 days
Last activity: 2981 days
#51 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.21
What's sad about this is I thought the Hassan character had great promise in the beginning. It was a multi-layered, realistic character that many people could relate to. A muslim-American who wanted nothing more than to be treated as a regular citizen, but felt was being unfairly treated due to the 9/11 and the war.

However, once the storyline went from "I'm sick of the stereotypes and want to prove that they are not true" to "Well, yes, we are terrorists. We're muslim, what did ya' expect?" then the whole thing went downhill.

UPN got incredible heat for the whole thing, and if he got moved to RAW then Spike would probably have to deal with those problems as well.

I do feel bad for Hassan, as his career is in serious limbo due to no fault of his own. However, I can't really say that getting rid of the character isn't a wise move.



The answer to WWE's financial problems...

Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
BigSteve
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Since: 23.7.04
From: Baltimore, MD

Since last post: 6276 days
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#52 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.87
    Originally posted by OMEGA
    I do feel bad for Hassan, as his career is in serious limbo due to no fault of his own.


I disagree. Don't get me wrong, the fact that WWE decided to run a terrorist angle that got him banned from UPN certainly isn't his fault. However, before that, it was clear that he was a subpar worker who just didn't have what it took to make it at the main event level. He is a great talker, but saying the exact same thing for nine months doesn't help either, no matter how good his delivery has been.



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Since: 12.6.03
From: California

Since last post: 5247 days
Last activity: 5199 days
#53 Posted on
I don't know. I'm quite torn on this. I definetly think the WWE went too far with the terrorist ski mask thing(which in essence was what prompted UPN to request the cancelling of the character). Although personally I wasn't too bothered with it, I definetly thought "that wasn't a wise move - thats gonna piss all kinds of people off." And frankly, WWE has paid now. While the character wasn't a huge draw or anything, he was a good character for heat which he drew immensely.

Which in a way, makes me feel really bad for Hassan. I strongly feel that he should've been moved back to RAW, and use the UPN ban as a story reason to move him back. He can stay heel for awhile and they can probably change his character a little. Perhaps turn him a face? Sure they can bring him back as Mark Magus, but he had such a presence as Hassan that he won't get over as Mark for a LOOOONG time. I really saw a lot of potential for the Hassan character - but hey it wasn't his fault. It was WWE's fault. I just hope he can recover, because in a VERY odd way, I'll be missing the Hassan character.

(edited by lost_my_testes on 21.7.05 1909)
ekedolphin
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Since: 12.1.02
From: Indianapolis, IN; now residing in Suffolk, VA

Since last post: 480 days
Last activity: 4 days
#54 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.52
WWE.com now has a brief one-paragraph statement on the subject, and due to its length I figure it's OK to post in its entirety here...

"Due to the unfortunate terrorist attacks in London on Thursday, July 7, which coincided with our pre-produced WWE SmackDown! program, UPN has asked us to be sensitive to the usage of the Arab-American character, Muhammad Hassan. We have agreed with UPN, and have not had the character on SmackDown! since that date. It is uncertain as to whether or not the WWE will continue with this character beyond this Sunday’s Pay-Per-View, The Great American Bash."

So, rumor confirmed... although they haven't actually said, 100%, "Yes, we will remove the character," they've simply said "It's uncertain whether or not we'll continue." Meaning they could simply move him to RAW or tell UPN to fuck off.



“Great. He spends skill points on Perform (Kazoo), and now I have to make a Knowledge (Limits of My Own Sanity) skill check."
--Roy Greenhilt, The Order of the Stick

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Since: 18.6.02
From: North Cacalacky

Since last post: 5376 days
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#55 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.21
    Originally posted by BigSteve
      Originally posted by OMEGA
      I do feel bad for Hassan, as his career is in serious limbo due to no fault of his own.


    I disagree. Don't get me wrong, the fact that WWE decided to run a terrorist angle that got him banned from UPN certainly isn't his fault. However, before that, it was clear that he was a subpar worker who just didn't have what it took to make it at the main event level. He is a great talker, but saying the exact same thing for nine months doesn't help either, no matter how good his delivery has been.


Oh, I agree. If this was a case of WWE sending him back to OVW because he wasn't ready in the ring, then I'd have no problem. However, this is a result of him following stupid orders given to him by WWE, and his future being a question-mark because of it. For that, I just can't help but feel bad for him.



The answer to WWE's financial problems...

Never 'Wiener of the Day', and is actually quite bitter about it.
Mayhem
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Since: 25.4.03
From: Nashville, TN

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#56 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.65

If only WWE hadn't already used the Chavo denouncing his heritage bit.



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Since: 28.6.02

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#57 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.52
Three things:

1) UPN is a network, not basic cable. Some markets might have it only on basic cable because that's where the signal is going in an analog fashion. In other words, you might be able to get it if you have a digital antenna; your mileage may vary.

2) Three words: Standards and practices. The point that's being missed here is that the WWE does not have a blank check of what goes onto TV. Each network has S&P, and UPN's S&P didn't like the Hassan character, apparently.

    Originally posted by Pizza Man
    There still censoring what your watching, right?


No, they're not censoring what you're watching. Like them or hate them, the FCC has a set of guidelines, and the networks need to follow them. For parents like myself who chooses what my daughter watches, that's one thing. There are standards, though, that need to be followed on public airwaves. It's a tradeoff.

3) L_M_T said it best -- WWE bit off more they could chew with the character with the whole Masked Conquistador Terrorists I, II, III and IV. I can see VKM's rebuttal, changing both Hassan and Daivari's characters into a convenience shop manager and a taxi driver, respectively -- it fits McMahon's modus operandi.



The Thrill
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Since: 16.4.02
From: Green Bay, WI

Since last post: 3624 days
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#58 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.25
God bless the men of 2nd Bn, 127th Inf, 32d "Red Arrow" Brigade, WI Army Nat'l Guard...good luck, and come home soon.

Hell, even I, a terrorist-hating patriot, wasn't that offended by the whole "terrorist" angle...just nervous that maybe Vince had pushed the envelope too far with what started out as a cleverly nuanced character.

I liked the Hassan concept...I was suprised at how quiet dude was in person after RAW a couple months ago here in Titletown.

But now I'm nervous as hell that Daivari won't get a legit shot working the SmackDown! cruiser division. C'mon, Vince, don't let any UPN heat spill over onto Daivari...give the kid his shot!

Here's Daivari's board...I guess a few fans still don't get the whole "kayfabe" thing.




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Since: 24.7.02

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#59 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.23
    Originally posted by Jim Smith
      Originally posted by OMEGA
      Dave Meltzer is reporting that WWE is now dropping the character completely:

      We've had confirmation that WWE is planning on dropping the Muhammad Hassan character due to all the negative publicity, so he won't be moving to Raw.


    So what happens to Mark Magnus? Does he get a new gimmick? It's hard to imagine anyone accepting him as an entirely new character, and even harder to picture WWE putting any effort into repackaging him.

    I really hope this story doesn't end with a guy getting fired for doing a really good job following really stupid orders.

    (edited by Jim Smith on 21.7.05 1842)







It would be extremely risky, but it is possible to turn Hassan overnight. The Nikita Koloff 1986 precedent would allow it. Now, it is doubtful that the #1 face gets in a car accident like Magnum T.A. did and Nikita turns out of a deep respect to his fallen foe. However, the Hogan/Michaels match could be used for him to turn. A post-match beatdown is stopped by Hassan(it'll probably be stopped by Trip to establish his face turn, but, just in case), who can say he respected Hogan as an opponent and realized the road he had been following was incorrect. Doubtful they would attempt it, but that is a circumstance that could provide a sudden face turn.
dwaters
Bierwurst








Since: 16.10.02
From: Connecticut

Since last post: 1390 days
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#60 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.84
Don't you realize this is all an elaborate work to get Steven Richards' "Right To Censor" back on the air?
Now that was a heel group. (Never really bought Val Venis as a member though).

Vince will respond by making an "evil TV executive" character, possibly played by Hassan himself.

It's nice to see UPN taking a stand. Too bad the Katie Vick fiasco wasn't on Smackdown.
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