Former WWE star Corporal Kirchner (real name Michael James Penze) passed away at the age of 64 on Wednesday. The cause of death is a heart attack, his wife tried to save him but was unable to.
A former United States Army paratrooper, Kirchner got his start in the pro wrestling business in Verne Gagne’s AWA. He would eventually join WWE and wrestle under the name “RT Reynolds” before being repackaged with the military gimmick based on his real-life past. The Kirchner character was reportedly created by WWE to replace Sgt. Slaughter, who left the company to join the AWA in 1985.
After spending several years in WWE, Kirchner had a brief run in the Harts’ Stampede Wrestling where he wrestled under the name “Col. Kirchner.” Thereafter, Kirchner had short stints in Japan with NJPW.
During his years in Japan’s W*ING promotion, Kirchner created the character “Leatherface” which was inspired by the villian of the same name from the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, Kirchner was arrested and jailed for six months following an attempted assault by a fan, which left the fan with severe facial injuries. With Kirchner in jail, the Leatherface character was given to another wrestler, Rick Patterson.
In 2001, Kirchner was announced as a participant in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. The WWE went as far as to include Kirchner’s photo in a graphic to promote the match. However, he was removed from the match a week before the big event at the Houston Astrodome.
WWE erroneously announced Kirchner’s passing because of confusion over his real name, which was believed to be Thomas Spear at the time. This was later corrected by WWE. In 2011, WWE.com published a two-part feature on Corporal Kirchner as part of its “Where Are They Know?” series. Kirchner was reportedly announced dead on October 15, 2006 by a former employer World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation). On October 21, it was announced that he was still alive.[1] This came as a result of confusion over Kirchner's actual name, which was believed to be Thomas Spear at the time. There, in fact, was a Thomas Spear who died in White Marsh, Maryland, but he is completely unconnected to Kirchner.[1]
Kirchner's mother heard about the WWE's announcement of her son's death and immediately called her son to inform him. Kirchner and his mom then contacted the WWE to tell that Kirchner was still alive and in good health, leading to the WWE's announcement on October 21. Kirchner, who was working as a truck driver at the time, later remarked that he was honored and surprised that people still remembered him 20 years after his brief rise to fame in WWF/E.
Titles he held.
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[10]
FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jason the Terrible[11]
FMW World Street Fight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Headhunters[12]
Wrestling International New Generations
W*ING World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Freddy Krueger[13]
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