Muhammad Hassan’s rapid rise in WWE was famously met with significant backstage heat from some veterans, culminating in a well-known “Wrestlers’ Court” incident with the late Eddie Guerrero. Hassan recently addressed those stories, stating that while he made mistakes, much of the heat was “overblown.”
“Overblown” Locker Room Heat
On The A2theK Wrestling Show, Hassan was asked about his reception in the notoriously tough WWE locker room of the mid-2000s. He admitted that he had heat but felt it was exaggerated over time.
“I definitely have made mistakes, and I’ve owned up to it, but you talk to a lot of people who were there at the time, a lot of it was overblown. You know, the WWE locker room at the time was a lot like high school, like something happened, and that person told that person, and that told person that eventually, by the time it gets to the group, it’s not even resembling the truth of what really had happened. I mean, I had plenty of heat, but so did a lot of guys coming in. Maybe I had more heat just because the nature of my character and the push that I received. And I definitely could have done things differently… It was a very small number of guys who were doing s–t like that back then.”
Paying His Dues
Hassan then discussed the infamous Wrestlers’ Court session held over his use of the Camel Clutch finisher, which was also used by Eddie Guerrero. He described the experience as “traumatizing” but ultimately effective, as it resolved the issues and allowed him to move forward.
“No, it was such a blur, because I was the center of attention for wrestlers court… the ultimate result of wrestlers court was it alleviated the heat that I had gotten. I paid my dues. Everything kind of dissipated. And when I talked to Eddie after, Eddie was very kind. And Eddie, Eddie’s message to me was, ‘if you’re going to be a top guy in this business, and then you need to know this business.’ He knew I didn’t mean anything when I asked him about the camel clutch. He knew I wasn’t trying to big dog him… But I should have known better. I should have known the history of that move. If I’m going to use it, then I should know the history of it. And that was his message to me, and it was, it was received, and we moved on. And really, after that moment, I didn’t have any heat anymore. So it was, it was traumatizing to begin with, but it did kind of alleviate the heat.”
The story of Muhammad Hassan’s controversial character and his time in WWE was the subject of a recent episode of Vice TV’s hit documentary series, Dark Side of the Ring.
