In the scripted world of professional wrestling, “heat” is the currency of success. Promoters and performers constantly seek to elicit strong emotional reactions from the audience, walking a fine line between entertainment and genuine provocation. However, on July 7, 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) did not just cross that line; they obliterated it. The controversy surrounding the character of Muhammad Hassan remains one of the most significant intersections of real-world tragedy and fictional storytelling in television history. A storyline involving masked men, piano wire, and a simulated terrorist attack aired on U.S. national television on the very same day that London was devastated by a series of coordinated suicide bombings.

The fallout was immediate and catastrophic. It re

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