The sad thing is, we as a wrestling community already eulogized the good Corporal, more than a decade ago, when WWE.com reported his passing. Thankfully, Greg Oliver and the crack team at Slam! Wrestling were able to disprove that rumor, noting WWE had pronounced the wrong person dead, and that Corporal Kirchner's condition had been upgraded to 'alive.'
Not so this time, unfortunately. The same folks at Slam have confirmed his passing, and we remember Corporal Kirchner quite fondly. There was his WWF run in the mid-to-late 1980s, in which he was put (literally) in Sgt. Slaughter's shoes as a protector of the USA against foreign villains. This led to a rivalry with The Iron Sheik and a Flag Match at WrestleMania II against Nikolai Volkoff. He was even featured in an episode of The A-Team along with The British Bulldogs (no relation), Ricky Steamboat and other gym buddies of Hulk Hogan.
There was also his action figure, pictured above, which was so iconic it has been included in the (prestigious) Canadian Bulldog's World LJN Wrestling Figure Hall of Fame. And while we can't confirm that fig alone is what made Stu Stone a Corporal Kirchner superfan... we can't disprove that theory, either.
Finally, there was his post-WWF career, when he competed as the second Leatherface and according to Mick Foley in Have A Nice Day, powerbombed an opponent onto a bed of nails. While quite shocking and less than professional, it was a moment that told Corporal Kirchner was still around.
Rest In Peace, Corporal Kirchner. This time for real.
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