Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2004) Copani joined the
Louisville, Kentucky-based
promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 2002. He debuted in the same year under the
ring name Mark Magnus. after wrestling
dark matches and
house shows for about two months. His introductory video and
gimmick featured him and his
manager, Iranian-American
Khosrow Daivari, introducing themselves as Arab Americans. He described himself as a wrestler of Jordanian-Palestinian descent wanting relief from the increased
prejudice and
stereotypes created by the
9/11 attacks, as he entered 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
Persian translation of his speech by Daivari, mistakenly referred to as
Arabic by Hassan and the commentary team. 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. 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 the January 3, 2005 episode of
Raw. He then defeated Lawler in his debut match at the
New Year's Revolution pay-per-view event on January 9. In the course of his undefeated streak, Hassan defeated wrestlers such as
The Hurricane,
Sgt. Slaughter,
Chris Benoit and
Chris Jericho. Hassan had attracted much
heat as a
heel, a fact which was evident at the
Royal Rumble on January 30 in the
Royal Rumble match itself. When Hassan entered at number 13, everyone who was in the ring at the time (
Booker T, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho,
Edge,
Eddie Guerrero,
Luther Reigns,
Rey Mysterio and
Shelton Benjamin) immediately ganged up on Hassan and eliminated him. Notably, Edge and Reigns were also heels at the time. At
WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 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 Hassan and Daivari. The following week on
Raw, Michaels approached Raw General Manager
Eric Bischoff demanding a
handicap match with Hassan and Daivari. Bischoff refused, but he did tell Michaels to find a partner and he would grant a match. Michaels then made a plea for 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 save Michaels and accept his offer. At
Backlash on May 1, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels, with Daivari being pinned. Hassan would blame and attack Daivari for the loss the next night on
Raw. On the May 30 episode of
Raw, Hassan faced then
World Heavyweight Champion Batista and won by
disqualification. However, he and Daivari were beaten by Batista after the match. The next week on
Raw, Hassan was granted a two-on-one 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 won the title, the
referee realized Benjamin was on the ropes and reversed his decision. Benjamin eventually pinned Daivari to retain the Intercontinental Championship. On the June 13 episode of
Raw,
Stone Cold Steve Austin appeared as a special guest enforcer on the request of Bischoff to listen to Hassan's complaints. After making fun of Hassan and Daivari calling them
sand people, Austin claimed to agree with them and ordered a match between Hassan and Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship that night, stating that Hassan was "screwed by the system". As Hassan was about to win the match with the help of Daivari, Austin entered the ring and delivered a
Stone Cold Stunner to both Hassan and Daivari, making Hassan the winner by disqualification and allowing Benjamin to retain the title as it cannot change hands by a disqualification unless stipulated. On the June 20 episode of
Raw, Hassan and Daivari interrupted a promo by then
WWE Champion John Cena to complain about how Hassan was "screwed" out of the Intercontinental Championship. Bischoff took the opportunity to punish Cena by
booking him against Hassan in a WWE Championship match, in which 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. On the June 23 episode of
SmackDown!, it was revealed both Hassan and Daivari were
drafted to the
SmackDown! brand in the 2005 draft lottery. Hassan won his first
SmackDown! match by defeating
Big Show with help from Big Show's rival
Matt Morgan. The following week on the June 30 episode of
SmackDown!, Hassan was involved in a confrontation with
The Undertaker during a six-man elimination match.
SmackDown! controversy and departure (2005) In one of the most controversial moments in WWE history, on the episode of
SmackDown! taped on July 4 (aired July 7), the SmackDown! General Manager
Theodore Long put Hassan in a No. 1 Contender's match against The Undertaker at
The Great American Bash on July 24 and placed Daivari in a match that night against The Undertaker. Daivari was defeated, 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. Three days later, the
London bombings took place. The footage aired unedited on
UPN 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 United Kingdom) broadcasts. 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. Hassan later delivered a promo to the live crowd for the July 14 episode 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 reiterated that he was an Arab-American and that the American people automatically and unfairly assumed that he was 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". On the July 14 episode of
SmackDown!, Hassan's absence was explained by a statement delivered by his
lawyer Thomas Whitney, which said that Hassan refused to appear at The Great American Bash due to the way he had been treated by the media and WWE fans. It was revealed in late July that UPN had pressured WWE to keep Hassan off of their network, effectively deleting him from
SmackDown!. Hassan lost the match to The Undertaker at The Great American Bash, and was written off with The Undertaker doing a
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 end the Hassan character. Several days later, 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 increasing public pressure, WWE was forced to later drop the character altogether, sending Copani and Daivari back to their
developmental territories to alter their gimmicks. This resulted in huge fan backlash, mostly because Hassan was at the height of his notoriety. Copani was released from his WWE contract on September 21, and announced his retirement from professional wrestling. In subsequent years, it was revealed that Hassan had been planned to receive a major
push, eventually winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista on August 21 at
SummerSlam.
Independent circuit (2018) On April 28, 2018, Hassan returned to professional wrestling for the first time in thirteen years, appearing at The Dynasty event Dynasty King of Thrones, defeating Papadon. Hassan defeated Bin Hamin for the Dynasty Heavyweight Championship on June 6, but then immediately vacated the belt. He returned to the promotion on September 29, defeating Sean Carr. In 2019 he would state in an interview that he would never wrestle again due to his other career as a principal. == Personal life ==