Former WWE Superstar Muhammad Hassan will be the subject of tonight’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring, and ahead of its airing, he’s opened up about his decision to participate in the often heavy-hitting docuseries.
In a recent interview with Fightful, Hassan—real name Mark Copani—revealed that he was initially hesitant to take part. Now a Director of Human Resources, Copani was concerned about how appearing on the show could affect his professional image.
“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 said.
With a stable career outside of wrestling and responsibilities to both his family and his school district, Copani was understandably cautious. “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,” he explained.
What changed his mind was the show’s pitch to focus not only on his controversial WWE character—which was abruptly dropped following the 2005 London bombings—but also on the man behind it. “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,” he said.
He added that producers made it clear the episode would take a more humanizing angle. “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.”
The episode airs tonight on Vice TV.
