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#1 |
King K Cool
Posts: 28,472
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Media reacts to Muhammad Hassan
Several media sources, including the New York Post and Variety, have reacted to SmackDown! Superstar Muhammad Hassan’s recent on-air actions. Below are columns that have been posted by the New York Post and Variety. Hassan has promised to respond to the negative press right here on WWE.com. Check back here as more information becomes available.
New York Post Online Edition 'Terrorist' wrestles after bombing By Don Kaplan July 12, 2005 -- UPN's "Smackdown" aired what appeared to be terror-themed hijinks last Thursday — the same day as terrorist bombings in London killed more than 50 people. The sketch was edited out of a U.K. edition of "Smackdown," which aired that same night. The sketch included images of Arabs in ski masks carrying a fallen Arab wrestler over their heads after he had "sacrificed" himself, evoking imagery similar to a suicide bomber's funeral. "We're very proud of our product," says "Smackdown" executive producer Kevin Dunn. "We try and be sensitive with everything we portray, but there's got to be protagonists and antagonists on our TV shows. "We just happen to reflect the politics of the world sometimes — especially with these Arab-American characters." A WWE spokesman added that it was "unfortunate" that the sketch aired the same day as the attacks. "If we had any idea that something like [the London attacks] might happen, obviously you wouldn't try to do that segment on that day," he said. But the show was taped July 5 — two days before the telecast. After the bombings took place last Thursday, WWE execs gave broadcasters carrying the show a heads-up about the sketch. It was edited out in Europe, but aired on UPN here with a discretionary crawl along the bottom of the screen that said: "In light of today's tragic events in London, parental discretion is advised in viewing tonight's episode." WWE's Dunn says, "We are firmly in the entertainment business," and that the plot, as edgy as it might have been, should be taken tongue-in-cheek. On last Thursday's show, an Arab-American wrestler who fights under the stage name Daivari was beaten by The Undertaker. After the bout, a second Arab wrestler, Hassan, knelt near the ring and prayed while five masked men attacked The Undertaker and choked him into unconsciousness. All five then knelt into praying positions and Hassan lifted The Undertaker's head up for the camera in a scene that looked eerily like a beheading. The group then left the ring carrying the unconscious Daivari over their heads. VARIETY.COM Inside Move: 'Smackdown' takes it on the chin WWE, UPN under attack for offensive match By Michael Schneider World Wrestling Entertainment and UPN have heard from several concerned viewers following last Thursday's "WWE Smackdown," which depicted a terrorist-like attack involving a group of Arab-Americans and a wrestling opponent. The episode aired the same day as the subway and bus bombings in London; UPN ran a crawl on its screen four times through the broadcast, noting that, "In light of today's tragic events in London, parental discretion is advised in viewing this episode." That wasn't enough of a warning for some viewers, who took offense at the depiction of Arab-American wrestlers Daivari and Muhammad Hassan -- who was shown in the episode praying while five men wearing ski masks rushed the ring and choked the "good guy," longtime WWE wrestler the Undertaker. WWE and UPN said they were unable to alter the episode, due to the tight timeframe between the show's taping earlier in the week and its Thursday night timeslot. "We all feel bad about the timing of the segment," said WWE spokesman Gary Davis, who said the show wasn't attempting to depict a terrorist attack -- although he said he understood how some viewers might construe it as such. "People will see what happens this week (as the storyline) gets straightened out." The Hassan character recently joined "Smackdown," moving over from Spike TV's "WWE Raw" show. UPN spokeswoman Joanna Lowry said the network reserves the right to preempt "Smackdown" but didn't think it was necessary last Thursday. "Due to the tragic events in London, we took the added measure of running an advisory four times throughout the broadcast so that viewers could make the appropriate viewing decision for their household," the network said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation involving this character and storyline." Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/mediahassan ![]() ![]() |
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#2 |
The Next Great One н²
Posts: 18,684
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#3 |
Instant Credibility
Posts: 2,979
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I like how in both articles they bury the fact that the incident was taped two days prior and that this was really a terrible coincedence.
Also, weird use of the term "hijinks." ![]() |
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#4 | |
Has an evil monkey...
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#5 |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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Sad.
But hey, it's not like the WWE was kno0wn for taste before this. |
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#6 |
One Man Horror Show
Posts: 1,046
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Oddly, the coincidence plays right into Vince's hands. He's no stranger for wanting to stir up press in the popular media. After a string of desperate attempts that the media met with apathy (Katie Vick, Zack Gowen, and probably the early Muhammad Hassan), Vince finally gets some folks riled up through no fault of his own.
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#7 |
One Man Horror Show
Posts: 1,046
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Ach, now the front page shows that UPN doesn't want Hassan to be on tonight's show due to the negative publicity. Argh. I really wanted to see this angle followed through. And with utmost media scrutiny.
Maybe he can issue an apology a la Raven after the crucifixion angle? |
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#8 | |
Guest
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#9 |
Capcom's Corporate Champ
Posts: 2,571
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Gay.
First of all, SmackDown was pre-taped. They didn't know that on Tuesday, there would be a terror bombing in London. Secondly, if anyone saw that crap, it wasn't like a bunch of nondescript Arab men came out and assaulted The Undertaker on some "terrorist" crap. It just looked like a typical heel mugging on WWE. Thirdly, it's W-W-FUCKING-E. Was the media this gay about Slaughter "joining" Iraq all those years ago? And finally... if WWE pussifies the Hassan angle or their shows, ala the crap they did in reaction to the PTC trying to give them a virtual rimjob, then it'll be a sad affair. |
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#10 | |
Capcom's Corporate Champ
Posts: 2,571
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#11 | |
"Ask him!"
Posts: 10,072
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WHERE IS THE PATRIOT ACT?!?!?! |
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#12 | |
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#13 | |
FIT Challenge Slag People
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#14 |
Spammy Certified
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Dave Youell
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Guest
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#16 |
...IN HD!!!!
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Matt Hardy.
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#17 | |
Adminstigator
Posts: 102,491
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#18 | |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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#19 | |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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If even the terrorists can't be arsed to look the part, why should "terrorists" in a hick industry? |
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#20 |
One Man Horror Show
Posts: 1,046
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After reading the Smackdown spoilers on the front page, I am liking how Smackdown handled UPN's request. It doesn't kill Hassan's push, and UPN walks away happy.
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#21 |
Go Choke on a Chode
Posts: 4,179
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Maybe it was just me, but if I didn't read the SmackDown! spoilers last week posted here, I wouldn't have really thought about it as those guys being terrorists. I didn't think it came off that way at all. Yeah, ski masks and shit, but how could you tell those dudes were "terrorists"? I guess maybe the sacrifice talking and shit was a clue, but that's about it.
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#22 | |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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Hell, people talk about sacrifices in other sports. Or in the WWE. Remember that annoying Creed song? On the other hand, the carrying off of Divari after the fact is reminiscent of scenes of martyred suicide bombers. Doesn't mean I would've made the connection had they not been warning, and had me in the mindset of "What the fuck could be related to the bombings? Oh, right...ALLAAAAAAAAAAAAY..." Of course, I generally don't look for offense in wrestling. If I did, I'd spazz out almost weekly. The Mexicools, while funny, are horribly offensive, for example. Wrestlers are charicatures...Exaggerations of stereotypes. But back to my point. Remember the whole backmasking thing? While backmasking is a big waste of time, it does indicate that people predisposed to hear something will hear it. More people will find offense when actively looking for it. This is pushing it, but it's still in keeping with the WWE's standards of quality. Where we fuck corpses, capitolise on terrorist attacks in the US, have the French (Sorta) attack our troops, feed people dogs, play U-Haul with the corpse of a wretler's dad... ...Please, tell me if I'm missing any major ones. This one wasn't even INTENTIONALLY cashing in (Like the Muhammed character). Not directly anyway. I'm not a fan of what they did, but I'm not surprised. And barring severe learning diabilities or having watched wrestling for less than six months, none of you should be either. |
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#23 |
90% spam
Posts: 2,814
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Chop chop the wee wee
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#24 |
Posts: 3,319
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dont forget a young black guy banging a 80 yr old and having a kid that turned out to be a rubber chicken!
oh yeah and lets not forget venis being circumsized on tv (wasnt that the jap clan?) big show called the japs gooks once, I believe getting oral from a tranny...dont forget that! remember when chyna tricked mark? LOL re-creating the black panthers through a group called the nation of domination etc etc |
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#25 | |
90% spam
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#26 |
It's Clobbering Time!
Posts: 5,337
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Am I the only one who doesn't know how the WWE are at fault in this whole scenario. Surely if there is anyone taking blame for this it should be UPN. It was a pre taped show. They knew what they would be showing and decided to go along with it despite knowing what happened in London. Anyway it's all gay. It's a TV show telling a bloody story.
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#27 |
Posts: 22,695
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It's WWE's fault in the first place for doing such a stupid thing anyway. Yeah, it was poorly timed, if it happened weeks before what happened in London, the media wouldn't have noticed. But because of the timing, they did. I still think WWE shouldn't have done it in the first place though. They should know better, even if they are going for more edgy tv.
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#28 | |
King K Cool
Posts: 28,472
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#29 |
Posts: 22,695
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All bald men are evil, so it's got to be them.
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#30 | |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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#31 |
Viva la Raza
Posts: 3,539
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<------ speechless
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#32 | |
King K Cool
Posts: 28,472
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#33 | |
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#34 |
One Of A Kind
Posts: 22,178
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Well i think Vince is proud of this character Hassan has, it's certainly achieved publicity, which was obviously the main target.How typical of the media to fall into such a trap, i can't believe they aren't even going to show that thing between hassan/undertaker on smackdown here in the UK now, so us WWE fans here in the UK wont even see it. So basically, i'm rather pissed off with the media on this, i couldn't careless if it's showing Hassan and his friends as terroists or not, the bottom line is it's a fucking story, and the more realism in stories the better.
And just to add to this, i come from London, so this paranoia that WWE will lose some of its fans here because of it is total bullshit. |
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#35 |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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I'd say the reaction Hassan had was valid.
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#36 | |
Shadow Conspircy leader
Posts: 18,582
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#37 |
Herp a derp, and so on
Posts: 8,830
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*paranoid
Also... VAL VENIS IS AN AY-RAB!!! WOT!!!?? U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!! ad nauseam... |
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#38 | |
Ron Paul 4 EVA
Posts: 152,467
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#39 |
Posts: 3,319
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imo, the media is playing right into vinnie mac's hands.
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#40 |
Guest
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Vince McMahon probably had a jolly good wank over this.
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