He is best known for his appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2004 to 2005, where he portrayed an Arab American under the ring name Muhammad Hassan.
The title was vacated on December 10, 2003, when Copani was pinned by both Jeter and Nick Dinsmore in a triple threat match.
In 2004, the promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) approached OVW seeking a wrestler to portray an Arab American character.
[2] Copani made his WWE television debut as a heel on Raw as Muhammad Hassan on December 13, 2004, in an in-ring segment with Mick Foley[7] after wrestling dark matches and house shows for about two months.
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 stopped praising Allah vocally due to complaints by Muslim-Americans, but still extended his hands during his ring entrance.
[21] 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.
[24] 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.
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.
[26] 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.
[27] 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.
[29] It was revealed in late July that UPN had pressured WWE to keep Hassan off of their network, effectively deleting him from SmackDown!.
[30] 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.
[31] 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.
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.
[6] Hassan defeated Bin Hamin for the Dynasty Heavyweight Championship on June 6, but then immediately vacated the belt, due to inability to make shows consistently, out of respect to the fans and the company.