Former WWE Star Corporal Kirchner Has Passed Away

Mike Penzel has passed away at the age of 64.

by Andrew Pollard
Corporal Kirchner
WWE.com

Mike Penzel, aka Corporal Kirchner, has passed away at the age of 64.

FMW archivist BahuFMW broke this news last night, detailing how Penzel passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack at his home in Siler City, North Carolina. He is survived by his wife of 25 years and their four children.

Having served in the US Army, Mike Penzel entered the pro wrestling business after meeting Hulk Hogan in a gym. From there, Penzel was introduced to AWA promoter Verne Gagne.

It would be in the then-WWF where Penzel would really make his name, initially working as an enhancement talent dubbed RT Reynolds before then being given the Corporal Kirchner moniker and portrayed as a proud American patriot.

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As Corporal Kirchner, Penzel notably feuded with the nefarious Nikolai Volkoff, with the two squaring off at WrestleMania 2 in a Flag Match which Kirchner won. He would depart the company in 1987, eventually heading to New Japan Pro Wrestling and creating the Leatherface gimmick for himself. That gimmick would be tweaked as Super Leather when Penzel began competing for FMW in 1995, and he remained with the promotion until FMW closed its doors in 2002. Mike would formally retire in 2004, but he would continue to make sporadic in-ring appearances up until 2009.

The thoughts of us all here at WhatCulture Wrestling go out to the family, friends and fans of Mike Penzel.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.