Notorious Muhammad Hassan Gimmick Wouldn't Have Worked Without This Former WWE Star
Marc Copani, the former wrestler who portrayed Muhammad Hassan in WWE, recently sat down with "The False Finish" to discuss his controversial gimmick. While the anti-American character was Vince McMahon's "baby", Copani also credits Shawn Daivari for being instrumental in getting the gimmick over.
According to Copani, he was paired up with Daivari to convince the WWE Universe that he was a genuine Arab. Copani is of Italian descent, so having a manager of Middle Eastern heritage by his side was integral to his presentation. Furthermore, it helped the gimmick become genuinely loathed by some sections of the WWE fan base as Daivari knew how to push people's buttons.
"Shawn was an Arab himself. Shawn is a Persian, he's from Iran and he spoke Farsi, not Arabic. And I'm not trying to insult anybody, but 20 years ago no one really knew the difference in the United States that was watching wrestling... Having Shawn with me really made the character. I don't know if Muhammad Hassan would have been Muhammad Hassan without Shawn Daivari with him."
Copani explained that Daivari cutting promos in Farsi was a guaranteed way to get heat from the crowd. However, he admits that his former on-screen manager could have said anything and no one would have known the difference. What's more, their working relationship led to them becoming friends behind the scenes. As such, Copani was there to witness his friend being searched by the authorities while they were traveling.
"When we would try to travel from town to town, city to city, and we would fly through any airport, and Shawn got lagged because his last name's Daivari, and we're spending a half hour almost missing our flight while they 'randomly' searched Shawn... It must have been awful to be him and to be randomly searched at every other airport we ever flew out of."
If you use any quotes from this podcast, please credit "The False Finish" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.