Thomas Brandi (born July 9, 1966) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He is best known for his appearances in the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

from 1996 to 1998 under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Salvatore Sincere. Brandi is also known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Federation,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

and

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

as Johnny Gunn.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1985–1992)

Brandi debuted in 1985 after being trained by

indy Indy may refer to: Computing and technology *Indy (software), used for Internet access to music *Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library *SGI Indy, a computer workstation Periodicals *''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include " ...

wrestler

King Kaluha Michael Alegado (born August 30, 1958), better known by his ring name King Kaluha, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and trainer. He is best known for his time in D. C. Drake's Continental Wrestling Alliance, the International Cha ...

. His first notoriety came in

International World Class Championship Wrestling International World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW, originally known as International Championship Wrestling) was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was promoted by Angelo Savoldi and his so ...

where he won the

IWCCW Television Championship The IWCCW Television Championship was the short lived secondary championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling. The title existed for a little over a year before being abandoned by the promotion. The IWCCW Television title has th ...

as "Chippendale" Tom Brandi a gimmick similar to the one used by

The Fantastics The Fantastics were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers that worked together extensively between 1984 and 2007. At times, Bobby Fulton would team up with his brother Jackie Fulton under the same name. Te ...

and

The Fabulous Ones The Fabulous Ones were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...

in the 1980s. In

(WCW), Brandi went by Johnny Gunn. He achieved some of the most notable moments in his career while teaming with

Tom Zenk Thomas Erwin Zenk (November 30, 1958 – December 9, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 to 1987, American Wrestling Association (AWA) 198 ...

. At Halloween Havoc 1992, Brandi partnered with

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

and Tom Zenk to defeat

Bobby Eaton Bobby Lee Eaton (August 14, 1958 – August 4, 2021) was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the managem ...

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

, and Michael Hayes.

American Wrestling Federation (1994)

In 1994, he competed for the short lived American Wrestling Federation on the TV series

Warriors of Wrestling A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

where he used the name "Johnny Gunn" and renewed his chippendales gimmick where he was a fan favorite. Brandi also teamed with

Jim Powers James Manley (born January 4, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jim Powers. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation from 1984 to 1994, then elsewhere until 2010. He was born in Washington Heig ...

while in the AWF.

Extreme Championship Wrestling and independent circuit

Brandi later joined

and teamed with

Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...

to capture the

ECW Tag Team Championship The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...

s. They captured the titles from

Johnny Hotbody John Weiss (born February 19, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. In Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Championship, ECW Tag Team Championship, and ECW Television Champions ...

and

Tony Stetson Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s. Stetson was one of ECW's ini ...

in only nine seconds. Less than a month later, the pair would lose the titles to

The Tazmaniac Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz) is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator and mana ...

(later

Tazz Peter Senerchia (born October 11, 1967), better known by the ring name Taz (also spelled Tazz) is an American radio personality, color commentator, and retired professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator and manage ...

) and Kevin Sullivan. Having suffered an injury, Gunn was replaced with Shane Douglas for a night, who turned on Dreamer to cost them the tag belts.

United States Wrestling Federation

In 1995, Brandi won the USWF Championship under the name Johnny Gunn. After losing the championship to his former trainer, King Kaluha, Brandi won the USWF Tag Team Championship from Damage Inc.

World Wrestling Federation (1996–1998)

He then went to the WWF, debuting in July 1996 as "Salvatore Sincere," a villainous stereotypical Bronx Italian/Mafioso character clad in pink and white who falsely claimed to be sincere and to "love" everyone. He appeared at the 1996 Survivor Series and In Your House: It's Time, where he wrestled in dark matches. He also worked matches with some of the WWF's top names at the time, including Shawn Michaels,

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majorit ...

, and

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

(billed as "Rocky Maivia" during his debut match in the WWF with Salvatore). He briefly feuded with

Marc Mero Marc Mero (born July 9, 1960) is an American former amateur boxer and professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under his real name and with ...

over valet

Sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...

in 1997. During this storyline, Brandi began wrestling under his given name after Mero called him a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

and said that he was "Tom Brandi", not Salvatore Sincere. Sincere later would go on to win a match against Mero by countout. After going by his real name, he participated in the 1998 Royal Rumble match, lasting a matter of seconds before being eliminated by Cactus Jack and

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

. He lost to

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

in his last televised match on March 17, 1998 episode of ''Monday Night Raw''. Brandi left the WWF that April.

Return to the independent circuit (1998–present)

Since leaving the WWF, Brandi has wrestled on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

under both the Brandi and Sincere names, and sometimes wrestles or does autograph signings under a mask as The Patriot, although without the permission of the original Patriot, Del Wilkes.

Championships and accomplishments

*Americas Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico) **AWF International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **AWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **AWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

Ray González Ramón González Rivera (born May 4, 1972), better known by his ring name Ray González, is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler and businessman. He has performed in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) and International Wrestling Association (IWA ...

*Big Time Wrestling **BTW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Eastern Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

( 1 time) – with

*Devastation Wrestling Federation **DWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Independent Pro Wrestling **IPW Americas Championship (1 time) *

Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance The Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance (IPWA, sometimes shortened to the Independent Pro Wrestling Alliance) was an American independent professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, ...

** IPWA Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) *Independent Superstars of Pro Wrestling **ISPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Winner's Club (King Kaluha & Michael Mars) *Independent Wrestling Alliance **IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...

IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship The IWA World Championship is the major title in the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South based in Louisville, Kentucky. The title debuted at the "Crowning of a Champion" event on April 3, 1997, when Tower of Doom won a twelve man tournamen ...

( 1 time) *International Pro Wrestling **IPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

IWCCW Tag Team Championship The ICW / IWCCW Tag-Team Championship was the top tag-team championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1995 where IWCCW closed down operations. Since the ICW/IWCCW championships were not given "world title" s ...

( 1 time) – with King Mike Kaluah **

( 1 time) *International Wrestling Association **IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *National Championship Wrestling **NCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

* NWA 2000 **

NWA National Heavyweight Championship The NWA National Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the U.S.-based, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The current champion is Cyon, who is in his first reign. The championship was established in January ...

( 1 time) *Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1/Premier Wrestling Federation **PWF Universal Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mike Kehner *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

**PWI ranked him #478 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 *

Steel City Wrestling Steel City Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1994 by Norm Connors. It was the top promotion in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area during the 1990s, along with the National Wrestling A ...

SCW Heavyweight Championship The SCW Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW). It remained active until November 20, 2004 when SCW was closed. The inaugural champion was Boris Dragoff, who defea ...

(1 time) ** SCW Television Championship (1 time) *United States Championship Wrestling **USCW Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *United States Wrestling Federation **USWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **USWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship ...

*Virginia Wrestling Association **VWA American Championship (1 time) *Wrestling Independent Network **WIN North American Championship (1 time) *

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

WWC Television Championship The WWC Television Championship is a tertiary championship that is currently defended in the World Wrestling Council. The title was initially created in 1986 and used until 2003, then from February 3, 2007 until July 11, 2008. The title was brought ...

( 1 time) *Xtreme Maximum Championship Wrestling **XMCW Legends And Superstars Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sincere, Salvatore 1966 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Italian descent ECW World Tag Team Champions Living people NWA National Heavyweight Champions People from Philadelphia Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania WWC Television Champions