The Ironic Sheik

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In recent weeks I’ve become mildly addicted to the Twitter feed of legendary wrestler The Iron Sheik.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Sheik, he was one of professional wrestling’s top villains during the 1980s. Not unlike conservative talk radio does now, back then pro wrestling often featured crude, jingoistic narratives pitting a”good” American against a”bad” foreigner. The Iron Sheik was a stand-in for the Reagan-era nemesis Ayatollah Khomenei. His tag-team partner was a Soviet called Nikolai Volkoff.

Today, the Sheik reportedly lives in Fayetteville and communicates to the world via his Twitter account, @the_ironsheik. Be warned, it’s not safe for work – unless you work with foul-mouthed, bigot-ish sports fans who write like Borat talks.

Among the Iron Sheik’s recent obsessions are the NBA playoffs in general, LeBron James (dubbed Lebanon James by the Sheik) in particular, and the allegedly steroid-damaged testicles of baseballer Jose Canseco. Among the nicer things he’s posted recently was this tribute to the late Donna Summers.

With 123,000+ followers, he’s one of Atlanta’s most popular celebrity Tweeters.

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