Former WWE Superstar Muhammad Hassan, whose controversial 2000s character was abruptly pulled from television, recently detailed his initial reluctance and eventual decision to participate in Vice TV’s “Dark Side of the Ring.” The episode airs tonight.
Speaking in a Fightful interview, Hassan explained how producers successfully pitched an episode that would differ from the show’s typical tragic narratives.
“I love Dark Side of the Ring. I’d watched every episode when I got the call… and it was Chris (Van Vliet) who put that out into the universe… I was like, ‘I don’t want to do a Dark Side episode. It always ends tragically. Why would you wish that upon me?'” he recounted. Hassan, who now works as a Director of Human Resources, was wary due to his current professional life.
“I was not into it at first. I have a very different life. I have a different career… that comes with a lot of responsibility and really a lot of obligation to portray myself as a professional for the school district that I work for and for my family,” he explained.
However, the show’s approach won him over. “Hearing them present this idea that they had for examining the controversial aspect of wrestling, and then the life after wrestling was pretty appealing because it was different than anything I had ever really seen on Dark Side,” Hassan stated.
The producers assured him the focus wouldn’t solely be on the controversy surrounding his WWE tenure, which ended after the London bombings in 2005.
“What it ultimately evolved into is ‘We’re going to focus on the human being behind the controversy and how that affected you, not only as a person, but your career, and what you’ve done post wrestling.’ I was hooked after that.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Fightful podcasts with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
