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 The American Wrestling Federation (AWF) was a professional wrestling federation founded by Paul Alperstein active from 1994 to 1996. The promotion was based in Chicago, Illinois, but held shows in many other eastern states of the United States. Th ...

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 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. 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 son ...

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 A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

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 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 The 1992 Halloween Havoc was the fourth annual Halloween Havoc professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on October 25, 1992, from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, P ...

, Brandi partnered with Shane Douglas and Tom Zenk to defeat Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, and Michael Hayes.

American Wrestling Federation (1994)

In 1994, he competed for the short lived

on the TV series Warriors of Wrestling where he used the name "Johnny Gunn" and renewed his chippendales gimmick where he was a fan favorite. Brandi also teamed with Jim Powers while in the AWF.

Extreme Championship Wrestling and independent circuit

Brandi later joined Extreme Championship Wrestling and teamed with Tommy Dreamer to capture the ECW Tag Team Championships. They captured the titles from Johnny Hotbody and Tony Stetson 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) 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 Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

. He also worked matches with some of the WWF's top names at the time, including

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

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 majority ...

, 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 boxing, amateur boxer and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF ...

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 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 – a ...

. He lost to Jeff Jarrett 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 wrestling, professional wrestler and businessman. He has performed in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) and International Wres ...

*Big Time Wrestling **BTW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * Eastern Championship Wrestling ** ECW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Tommy Dreamer *Devastation Wrestling Federation **DWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Independent Pro Wrestling **IPW Americas Championship (1 time) * Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance ** 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 **

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 ( 1 time) *Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1/Premier Wrestling Federation **PWF Universal Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mike Kehner * Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI ranked him #478 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 * Steel City Wrestling **

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

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