30 One-Time-Only WWE Royal Rumble Entrants You Totally Don't Remember

3. Tom Brandi (1998)

WWE

Time In Match: 0:12

I am sure many of you reading this are wondering who in the hell is Tom Brandi? A fair question, and the answer is: nobody, really. Brandi was just a guy from America's Northeast wrestling scene whom Bruce Prichard happened to be a fan of, so when Vince McMahon green-lighted Jim Cornette€'s idea of bringing in talent to work as glorified jobbers but giving them names and characters so they weren€'t too generic, Prichard pitched Brandi for one of the spots. Vince agreed, and Salvatore Sincere was born.

With a gimmick that called for Brandi to don pink tights, act like an Italian Mafioso, and tell everyone he loved them (but he was insincere, get it?) he got over like a lead balloon. Two years later he still had a job, and on Raw Marc Mero outed him with a fourth wall-breaking revelation: Salvatore Sincere was only a gimmick... Well no !*$% kidding! Ditching the silly character, Brandi became, imaginatively, Tom Brandi. People now cared less than before. Who knew that could have been possible? In the 1998 Rumble he was the first eliminated, used as fodder for Cactus Jack and Terry Funk to eat up and spit out so they could get back to brawling with each other without interruption.

Contributor
Contributor

The author of the highly acclaimed 'Titan' book series, James Dixon has been involved in the wrestling business for 25 years as a fan, wrestler, promoter, agent, and writer. James spent several years wrestling on the British independent circuit, but now prefers to write about the bumps and bruises rather than take any of them. His past in-ring experience does however give a uniquely more "insider" perspective on things, though he readily admits to still being a "mark" at heart. James is the Chief Editor and writer at historyofwrestling.co.uk and is responsible for the best-selling titles Titan Sinking, Titan Shattered, and Titan Screwed, as well as the Complete WWF Video Guide series, and the Raw Files series.