Athletes - Mark Copani

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	Athletes - Mark Copani

Mark Copani (born November 7, 1981 in Amman, Jordan, but raised in Syracuse, New York, USA), is an American actor and (currently inactive) 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 stopped praising Allah vocally due to complaints by Muslim-Americans, but still extended his hands during his ring entrance. His speech followed by a supposedly Arabic translation of his speech (in truth Persian) by his manager, Khosrow Daivari. 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 then went on to defeat Jerry Lawler in his debut match 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 fan favorite 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 pay-per-view 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. 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 "unpinned" streak.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mark Copani ]

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