When I see The Patriot advertised for an independent wrestling show these days, I know it isn’t the man I remember watching. Del Wilkes died in 2021, but Tom Brandi is still appearing at shows wearing the red, white and blue mask that Wilkes made famous.
I’ve never been comfortable with that.
Wilkes was a South Carolina native who grew up in Irmo and became an All-American offensive lineman at the University of South Carolina. He was a key part of the Gamecocks’ 1984 “Black Magic” football team, which finished 10-2. His football career didn’t lead to the NFL, but he found another career in professional wrestling.
After working in the American Wrestling Association as The Trooper, Wilkes became The Patriot in the Global Wrestling Federation in 1991. He later wrestled in Japan, teamed with Marcus Alexander Bagwell as Stars & Stripes in WCW and joined the WWF in 1997.
His WWF run was relatively brief, but it included a memorable feud with Bret Hart and a WWF Championship match at In Your House: Ground Zero.
Brandi, meanwhile, had wrestled in WCW as Johnny Gunn and later in the WWF as Salvatore Sincere. Around 1998, he began appearing on independent shows as The Patriot.
Brandi has maintained that he had permission to use the character. In a 2023 interview with Interactive Wrestling Radio, Brandi said the Honky Tonk Man suggested he take over the gimmick for shows at military bases. According to Brandi, organizers contacted Wilkes, who declined to appear but agreed to let them use The Patriot character. Brandi’s account was that the permission came through the organizers rather than directly from Wilkes.
Wilkes told a very different story.
In a 2008 statement reported by Bill Behrens, Wilkes denied selling the character or giving Brandi permission to use it. He also complained that photographs of Wilkes from his WWF career were being used to promote Brandi.
In a 2015 interview, Wilkes said, “I in no way, shape or form did that,” referring to rumors that he had sold Brandi the gimmick.
Wilkes also alleged that Brandi had signed photographs of him and told fans he was Del Wilkes.
Brandi acknowledged signing photographs of Wilkes but offered an explanation in his 2023 interview. He said that when he began portraying The Patriot at military bases in 1998, organizers printed photographs of Wilkes for autograph sessions because Brandi did not yet have his own promotional pictures. Brandi said he signed those photographs during the first few shows before having pictures of himself printed.
“I didn’t need his picture!” Brandi said, maintaining that it happened only at those early military appearances.
That explanation addresses why Brandi says he signed Wilkes’ photographs. It does not resolve Wilkes’ separate allegations that Brandi continued selling his photographs or represented himself as Del Wilkes when questioned by fans.
Wilkes continued disputing Brandi’s account in later interviews. In an interview published by Fightful on July 4, 2021, four days after Wilkes died, he again rejected Brandi’s claims. The interview had been recorded before his death and was scheduled for publication on Independence Day.
“It’s a lie. I mean, there’s not one ounce of truth to that,” Wilkes said.
There is also a trademark issue. Roy W. Farris, better known as the Honky Tonk Man, registered THE PATRIOT as a trademark for wrestling entertainment in 2009. According to federal trademark records, the registration was canceled June 5, 2020, because the required maintenance filings were not completed. That cancellation did not determine who owned the character or whether Brandi had Wilkes’ permission to use it.
I don’t pretend to know every legal detail of the dispute. But I do know that Wilkes consistently denied Brandi’s account, and I believe him.
There is nothing unusual about wrestlers borrowing ideas from other characters. Wrestling history is full of imitation, recycled gimmicks and masked men taking over established identities. But using another wrestler’s photographs or allowing fans to believe they’re meeting someone else crosses a different line.
For me, there’s also the South Carolina connection. Wilkes was a Gamecock All-American long before he became a masked wrestling star. His career was something South Carolina wrestling fans could take pride in.
Brandi can continue wrestling as The Patriot, and promoters can continue booking him under that name. But when I think of The Patriot, I think of the man who wore the mask in GWF, Japan, WCW, and the WWF.
I think of Del Wilkes.
And I always will.