WWE needs to be careful-How Rusev could have been the new Mohammad Hassan

WWE could have brought Rusev’s and Lana’s career to a terrible end

What I remember from Battleground about the Swagger-Rusev feud is that the former was rammed into a steel post and eventually counted out. He did not lose by pinfall or submission. Then why did the announcers on Monday Night Raw say that he tapped out? Also, there was no celebration as such by Lana or Rusev. As soon as Lana was about to speak, Khali made his way to the ring and then Rusev had a very unspectacular match which he obviously won. Just when I thought that Swagger and Rusev will continue their feud till Summerslam, I missed out on one detail. One very important detail. Lana’s promo at Battleground could have done more to harm Rusev than to get some heel heat. The WWE took a very recent incident, which everyone thought was the MH-17 plane crash, to get some more heat for Rusev. But it could have gone horribly, horribly wrong.

The Fall of Mohammad Hassan

Remember Mohammad Hassan? He was emerging to be one of the heels to look out for on Smackdown and maybe was on the verge to become a top superstar but WWE made a huge mistake which ultimately went on to be a career-ender for Hassan, who was introduced as an Arab-American wrestler wanting to put an end to all the prejudice faced by his community of people.

So, this is how it was the beginning of the end for Hassan. Hassan was supposed to face Undertaker at the Great American Bash in 2005. Therefore towards the build up to the event, one of the matches on Smackdown involved undertaker facing Hassan’s manager Daivari who was obviously defeated. But what happened after the match was written about by many in mainstream media.

Soon after Undertaker defeated Daivari, Hassan had a smirk on his face and then he got down on his knees and arms open wide and immediately five men with their faces covered with ski masks and wearing other matching attires namely their black shirts and camo pants attacked Undertaker with a club and choked him out. Soon after Hassan tried locking the Undertaker in the Camel Clutch, all five men got down on their knees, which was interpreted as the Islamic form of praying.

On July 7th, 3 days after Smackdown was taped, the London bombings took place.

His career never really recovered after that and he was removed from most shows and defeated by Undertaker at the Great American Bash and released soon after. And he announced his retirement from pro-wrestling soon after at the age of 23.

This could have gone horribly wrong

The point is that a foreign heel is a classic concept and an easy option to get some heat but it can go horribly wrong because of its involvement in the social and political environment.

If this had happened to Rusev, it would have been a travesty for a very talented performer and his very talented manager. Lana is one of the most interesting characters on the roster as I have said before and Rusev is not like the other buff superstars who had their share of winning squash matches and then going into oblivion.

The MH-17 tragedy is still fresh in everybody’s mind and to use it indirectly in an angle is just cold-hearted.

So it is better that the WWE is keeping mum on furthering the Rusev-Swagger feud.

Finding the Next opponent

Rusev can be a very intimidating character but for that he needs to have very popular and strong babyface. I always say that heels are far more interesting than babyfaces, but I realize now, in this era, it is very difficult to be a textbook babyface. Dean Ambrose is someone who gets a very babyface reaction but his demeanor is not that of a clean cut, virtuous hero. He is falling more and more in the category of an anti-hero, which is best suited for him. To think about a very over/popular babyface, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan come to mind. But they already have their own unfinished business.

I think I need a moment to find that ideal opponent and so do Creative.