Muhammad Hassan Gets Candid About His WWE Release

Former WWE star Muhammad Hassan, who goes by his real name Marc Copani these days, has opened up about his WWE release and how it affected him deeply. 

Hassan's character was killed off when WWE's broadcast partner UPN objected to an angle that aired during the London bombings in 2005. Hassan was eventually released by WWE and he has explained why his WWE exit was hard to digest, in a recent appearance on "Insight."

"It took me a little while to figure out I didn't want to get back in there [because] it really was a huge heartbreaking moment for me. You work so hard, you spend so much time — training, preparing, and it's all just taken away, kind of no reason ... I didn't do anything, I didn't bomb any place. And I understand why the character was taken off TV, it absolutely had to be but that was the heartbreak for me, I was just out there doing the best that I could and the rug was pulled off from under me," said Copani.

He discussed the possibility of embracing a different character after the end of the Hassan gimmick but explained why it never happened.

"I had that conversation with several people at that time, and it is possible, but I wasn't going to be on TV for a long time because Hassan came so quick and had such a huge impact, they didn't feel like anybody would recognize me as another character, at least for a long time," added the former WWE star.

He said that was the reason why he was off TV after the Hassan character was killed off, and ultimately released by the promotion. Hassan that he fell out of love with wrestling and avoided it, and revealed why he can't step in the ring again.