Tom Brandi

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Tom Brandi
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Johnny Gunn Salvatore Sincere Tom Brandi The Patriot
Billed height	6 ft 3 in
Billed weight	267 lb
Born	July 9, 1966 (1966-07-09) (age 41) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Resides	Dover, New Hampshire
Trained by	King Kaluha
Debut	September 1985

Tom Brandi (born July 9, 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a professional wrestler known for his work in World Wrestling Federation as Salvatore Sincere. He is better known for his current work as The Patriot, working for such companies as Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1, National Wrestling Superstars, and other independent promotions on the East Coast. Brandi as The Patriot currently holds the PWF Tag Team Championship with former ECW referee Mike Kehner in Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1.

1 Career
2 Signature and Finishing Moves
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

Tom Brandi debuted in 1985 after being trained by indy wrestler King Kaluha. His first notoriety came in International World Class Championship Wrestling where he won the IWCCW Television Championship as "Chippendale" Tom Brandi, a gimmick similar to the one used by The Fantastics and The Fabulous Ones in the 1980's.

In ECW, Tom Brandi teamed with Tommy Dreamer in Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling) to capture the ECW Tag Team titles. They captured the titles from Johnny Hot Body and Tony Stetson in only nine seconds. Later in the card, Brandi was defeated by Curtis "Mr." Hughes. Less than a month later, the pair would lose the titles to Tasmaniac (later Tazz) and Kevin Sullivan.

In 1994, he competed for the short lived AWF Warriors of Wrestling where he used the name "Johnny Gunn" and renewed his chippendales gimmick.

In WCW, he went by Johnny Gunn. In WCW, he achieved some of his most notable moments teaming with Tom Zenk. On pay-per-view, Brandi teamed up Shane Douglas and Tom Zenk to defeat Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, and Michael Hayes.

In 1995, Tom 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.

He then went to the WWF and became Salvatore Sincere, a stereotypical Italian/Mafioso character who was very vain about his handsome face and well-developed physique. He appeared at the 1996 Survivor Series and In Your House: It's Time, where he wrestled in dark matches. He briefly feuded with Marc Mero over valet Sable. 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. As Brandi, he participated in the 1998 Royal Rumble match, lasting a matter of seconds before being eliminated by Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie.

Since leaving WWF, Brandi has wrestled on the independent circuit under both the Brandi name and the Sincere name. Since 2002, he has also wrestled as "The Patriot." Brandi claims he acquired the rights to the character from Del Wilkes, who worked as The Patriot during the 1990s. However, Wilkes has repeatedly denied granting Brandi the rights to the character.

Tom Brandi has been ranked in the "PWI 500" 12 times, every year from 1991 to 2002. When PWI released the "Top 500 wrestlers of the PWI Years" (1979-1999), Brandi came in at number 478.

On March 26, 2006, Brandi (under his Salvatore Sincere gimmick) served as 'Creative Control' for Maryland Championship Wrestling, working with Adam Flash and Bruiser. He was suspended for 30 days for 'knocking out' a referee (kayfabe). Since April 2006, Brandi has been competing for National Wrestling Superstars, feuding with Kamala as Salvatore Sincere.