Nick Mondo | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Timothy Burns (1980-03-28)March 28, 1980 (age 44) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.[1] |
| Other names | Matthew T. Burns |
| Occupations |
|
| Ring name(s) | Nick Mondo[1] Pepperoni Tony[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1,85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 202 lb (92 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Bodyslammers Gym[1] |
| Debut | March 1999 |
| Retired | July 26, 2003[1] |
Matthew Timothy Burns[1] (born March 28, 1980), better known by hisring name "Sick"Nick Mondo, is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. Since his in-ring retirement in 2003, he has become a filmmaker, actor and stuntman and, at one point, worked with All Elite Wrestling as director.
Burns is best known for his appearances withCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW). He was known throughout his career for his willingness to take extremely dangerous bumps, such as being hit with aweed whacker, getting thrown into a table covered withbarbed wire, slammed from a distance of 40 feet onto light tubes and concrete and other ultraviolent spots. In 2004, Burns was inducted intoCZW's Hall of Fame.[3]
During his start out in 1999 in Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling, he would feud with the likes of Eddie Valentine.
His CZW debut was on May 6, 2000 againstTrent Acid, at A Living Hell.[4] At Caged to the End on June 10, 2000, he was involved in a Three Way Dance against Mercury and Ty Street. He fought Justice Pain on June 25, 2000, in a field near the Champs Arena, titled They Said It Couldn't Be Done. A few months later he teamed up with Ric Blade and foughtThe Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid andJohnny Kashmere), which saw Blade end the match with aSwanton bomb off the Champs Arena wall through two stacked tables with Acid on top and Kashmere on a bottom table. They won theCZW World Tag Team Championships around this time; but eventually split and began a feud with one another after losing the titles to the original H8 Club ofJustice Pain andWifebeater.
The feud would still go on as at Crushing The Competition on February 10, 2001 inSewell, New Jersey, Blade would team up withSuper Crazy to take on Mondo in a Handicap 3-wayladder match.[5] The feud would end in a "Barbed Wire Ladder Match" as well a hugeSwanton bomb an off the Champs Arena wall from Blade on to Mondo through a table. Blade won the match with amoonsault from the top rope with a ladder he positioned under Mondo, breaking Mondo's nose in the process.[6]
Mondo's first title capture was theCZW Iron Man Championship, againstWifebeater andMad Man Pondo at Breakaway Brawl in June 2001.[7] Mondo was involved the extremely violent 6 man tag team match teaming withZandig, Wifebeater against The Backseat Boyz and Justice Pain at H8 Club Dead? in July 2001, in this match his back was a mess of blood.[8] Mondo was in a no rope barbed wire match in the pouring rain againstNick Gage at And Justice And For All in August 2001, he wassplashed through a table by Gage, and lost the Iron Man Championship.[9] He failed to recapture the Iron Man Championship aFalls Count Anywhere three way againstAdam Flash and Nick Berk at CZW's biggest show everCage of Death III in December 15, 2001, losing to Flash.[10]
He had numerous memorable bouts during this run to capture theCZW World Heavyweight Championship; the first battle withMessiah at This Time it's Personal in February 2002,[11] taking Justice Pain to his limit and coming within an eyelash of winning the World title at A Higher Level of Pain in April 2002,[12] and a 64-minute four way classic with Messiah, Flash and Pain at High Stakes, where he won the Iron Man Championship in a double pin.[13]
Mondo fought Messiah in the first round and came up short against Wifebeater at CZW's firstTournament of Death in a memorablespot where Mondo received aweedwhacker to the stomach.[14] However, Mondo and Wifebeater would team up to faceNecro Butcher and "Mr Insanity" Toby Klein at Ultraviolent Freedom of Expression on September 14, 2002.[15][16] His partner Blade returned at Beyond The Barrier on October 12, 2002, with Mondo defeating Johnny Kashmere.[17] AtCage of Death IV on December 13, 2002, he competed in aTables, Ladders, and Chairs match againstThe Backseat Boyz with Mondo as his partner but ended up losing. The Backseats won in the end with theAcid Bomb whilst Blade's head was in the ladder.[18] Mondo failed to capture the CZW Death Match Championship a three-way with Zandig and Nate Hatred at Live Again in January 2003. Mondo had his swan song with a bump that will never be forgotten against Zandig, and a victory overIan Rotten to win CZW's 2nd annualTournament of Death in July 2003.[15]
Burns retired in 2003 after suffering several injuries during his career, the last of which was a severely punctured back which he suffered during his match againstJohn Zandig at Tournament of Death II (which Burns won), a match in which he was already wrestling with three broken bones in his right wrist. There was a rumour that Burns was to return at CZW's Cage Of Death XII, but it was false.[15] In addition to his ring work, Burns has been featured as a playable character inBackyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood along with Zandig.[19]
Burns would make his return to CZW at theirCage of Death XVInternetpay-per-view, as he would run down to the ring to help Lucky 13 during his match against the Forgotten Ones. Afterwards,Rory "Little" Mondo came back out, having been eliminated earlier in the match, shocked to see his idol in the ring again. He then told Mondo that he returned to the promotion to prevent his successor from mutilating himself in his name, and that he had earned his respect. Upon hearing this, Mondo retired from professional wrestling.[20] Burns would make his in-ring return on July 21, 2017 forBrian Kendrick's Wrestling Pro Wrestling as Pepperoni Tony, where he would team with Chow Mein Charlie to defeat The Delivery Boys. He would wrestle again for Wrestling Pro Wrestling on August 25, teaming with General Tso Tso to wrestle Rubber Baby Leather Daddy to a no-contest.[2]
In a May 2019 interview withPro Wrestling Sheet'sRyan Satin, it was revealed that Burns had directed the video marking the return ofJon Moxley, following his departure fromWWE. Burns confirmed that, contrary to popular opinion,the Viper Room's logo was not a reference to theAll Elite Wrestling (AEW)Double or Nothing event (in which Moxley would indeed make a surprise appearance) but rather a tribute toDusty Rhodes, Moxley's mentor atFlorida Championship Wrestling. Burns also directed the hype video for Moxley's debut inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, which included the use of cowboy boots and a jacket with theflag of the United Kingdom on it, in order to mislead fans on who the wrestler actually was. Satin admitted he was guilty of this as well, since he was too busy looking for clues, and had not realised that his cousin was in the video, which led to the interview with Burns taking place.[21] Burns directed another hype video, which came out in late July, promoting Moxley's match againstJosh Barnett atGame Changer Wrestling'sBloodsport 2;[22] a match that ultimately did not happen due to Moxley having surgery to remove aMRSA staph infection in his elbow. By the end of the year, Burns had begun working with AEW as a director.[23] However, he was released during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[24]
| Year | Film | Role | Credited as | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | Editor | Actor | |||||
| 2004 | Unscarred: The Life of Nick Mondo | Himself | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2006 | Fighting the Still Life | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unreleased | [25] |
| 2008 | Incubus Drone | — | No | No | Yes | No | No | Short film | |
| 2014 | Match Perfect | — | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Short film | |
| Pieces of 8 | — | No | No | No | No | No | Video short First assistant director, props | ||
| 2015 | Finding Beauty in the Rubble | — | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Documentary short Cinematographer | |
| 2017 | The Trade | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2019 | Fredo | — | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2021 | The Claw | — | No | Yes | No | No | No | Documentary Stunt coordinator / stunt performer | |
| TBA | 2 Criminals | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | [25] | |
| The Searcher | The Frogman | No | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| Year | Show | Role | Credited as | Notes | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Heels | — | No | No | No | No | No | 3 episodes Stunt coordinator / stunt performer | |
| Thicker | Basement Guard #4 | No | No | No | No | Yes | TV movie Originally titledThicker Than Thieves | ||
| Year | Game | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood | Himself | Stunts / stunt actor | |
| 2012 | Resident Evil 6 | — | Stunt actor | |
| 2016 | Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 | — | Stunts | |
| 2017 | Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 | — | Stunts | |
| 2020 | Gears Tactics | — | Stunt actor / performer |
