10 WWE Stars You Totally Don’t Remember Appearing At WrestleMania

6. Corporal Kirchner

Corporal Kirchner
WWE.com

Still a safe bet for a cheap pop in the simpler times of 1986, Corporal Kirchner was a flag-waving military man in the absence of Sgt Slaughter after Vince McMahon discovered that the real life Mike Kirchner had a background in the army before giving professional wrestling a try.

Appearing on the Chicago portion of the WrestleMania 2 card, the Corporal faced his natural foe Nikolai Volkoff, defeating the Russian in a Flag Match whilst Cold War fear could still easily be sold to the wrestling audience.

Though over with live crowds, there was little wiggle room for the character beyond the Volkoff rivalry, and as that fizzled, so did Kirchner's run.

Failing a drugs test in 1987, he elected to leave the company at the end of the mandatory suspension he received, but would go on to achieve considerable fame in Japan, working with a 'Leatherface' persona ripped wholesale from the frightening lead villain in the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' movie.

A hardcore wrestling sensation for the W*ING, IWA and FMW promotions, he spent nearly twenty years delighting audiences with the character until his eventual 2004 retirement.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett