Bad Press Over Muhammad Hassan

The WWE seems pretty happy with all the negative publicity surrounding the Muhammad Hassan affair last Thursday.

Luckily for us viewers outside of the US, the segment - in which Hassan was assisted by a group of masked 'terrorists' in attacking the Undertaker - was edited from the edition of SmackDown! that was shown here on Friday night, due to the bombings in London the day before. However in the US it was broadcast - and on the day of the bombings, no less.

Even though the segment was conceived of and filmed before the bombings took place (SmackDown! is taped on Tuesdays) it's bad form for the WWE to exploit the situation for the sake of press coverage. And it's equally bad taste to make it a work, like they've done by posting Hassan's response.

Even besides the fact that the guy playing Hassan isn't even an Arab, the whole thing is too cheap and nasty for me. It smacks of pandering to the base prejudices of trailer-trash hicks, and makes me want to switch off.