National Wrestling Alliance standout “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason isn’t a guy who suffers from lack of confidence. The near 300-pound Tennessee native looks, sounds and wrestles like he came directly from Mid South Wrestling’s early ’80s heyday, and he’s quickly proved worthy of the recent contract he signed for Billy Corgan’s company.
“I come from the era when men were men and sheep were scared, brother,” Mason said via phone while chomping on a burger patty. “I want to cross every wrestling demographic, and be every kind of star you can imagine being.”
The “Thrillbilly” is certainly on his way. Mason caught the attention of the NWA last summer. Dr. Tom Prichard introduced him to Corgan, he landed a spot wresting Luke Hawx, and he’s been climbing up the NWA ladder ever since.
The goal would be to eventually defend the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title and National Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom someday. Cause hell, I’ll just collect every piece of gold and hardware I can, And if any of those jabronis at Jericho’s company wanna come get some, they can come get some, too. Tell Jericho if he wants a size 16 boot up his *ss on the cruise, tell him to holler at the “Thrillbilly.” That would be an honor for him to step into the ring with me.
“Thrillbilly” Silas Mason
Mason got his start in wresting while attending the University of Tennessee. “It all started way back in the year of our lord and savior Jesus Christ of 2011,” he said. “I had not had internet at my house for most of my life. But in college, I saw a Facebook ad for (New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s) Chase Owens up in Kingsport. I literally just drove up there one day, and out of the 50 or so people that went there, he selected three of them. Out of those three, I was the only one dumb enough to keep showing up.”
Mason eventually moved to Portland, Oregon to continue his training with DOA Professional Wrestling, and he cut his teeth with several West Coast indies. He’s also wrestled with Southern Underground Pro in Tennessee and Southern Honor Wrestling in Georgia.
More recently, Mason turned heads and showcased his skills in a match with Davey Richards at NWA74. It was arguably the match of the night, and Corgan loved it. “If the boss likes it, you’re doing good,” Mason said previously.
The “Thrillbilly” also defeated JR Kratos in a hard-hitting match at NWA’s “Nuff Said” pay-per-view and afterwards covered himself with his opponent’s blood. Next, he wants to be covered in NWA gold.
Recently, Mason talked about his pro wrestling career, starring as Terry Gordy in the upcoming “Iron Claw” movie, pairing with “main squeeze” Pollo Del Mar and much more in this Web Is Jericho exclusive.
Here are some fast facts on The “Thrillbilly.”
Mason got to portray his favorite wrestler of all time for the big screen opposite co-stars Zac Efron and Maxwell Jacob Friedman in the upcoming “Iron Claw” movie. The film is based on the life of Kevin Von Erich and the Von Erich family. “My absolute favorite wrestler of all time to watch is Terry Gordy, and I’m actually playing Terry Gordy in the ‘Iron Claw’ movie. I literally got to play my favorite wrestler. This guy who works for NWA put me in touch with Chavo Guerrero and the guys that ran it. They told me to take some pictures, and they said, ‘Oh hell, this guy looks like Terry Gordy.’ Which Terry Gordy looked like Baby Huey, so I don’t know how much of a compliment that was. But, it got me the job. They asked me if I knew anything about him. I was like, ‘Do I know anything about him!? I know everything, brother.’”
The “Thrillbilly” would be down for more acting roles in the future. “When those checks come in, hell yeah. (For) that sweet, sweet SAG insurance, brother. That’s why Roddy Piper kept doing all those B-movies back in the day.”
He has a unique finishing move with “The Thrill Ride.” “I am a highly trained athlete who is able to keep his equilibrium no matter how many rotations I go through. I’m not entirely sure if anyone else could do it. The way I came up with it, it was literally just a black hole slam — thank you Tim Storm — and I just decided to go more rotations with it. I can’t exactly explain why. I had the guy up there, and I was like, I’ll just keep going. Some say that guy is still spinning to this day.”
Mason has found a home with the NWA. “This is just gonna sound like I’m toeing the company line, but I’m being completely honest here, I love working for the NWA. All the guys who have been there and done that that are there now, there’s a lot of places I’ve been in this business where vets will kinda look down their nose at people. Or be like, ‘Who the hell is this kid?’ It’s not like that at NWA. My two favorite wrestlers nowadays are Gunther and Trevor Murdoch. Murdoch is cool as hell, man. It’s all these dudes that have basically seen everything you can see in this business, and they’re just giving out knowledge left and right, and you have to raise your level because of the level of guys you’re around. But guys like Aron Stevens and Chris Adonis, they help you raise your level by giving you the advice. And Corgan is awesome, man. He’s always been cool to me. I was a musician, too, in a past life, so we kind of talk about that and talk a little basketball. He’s a cool dude.”
Speaking of music, Mason once fronted a punk rock band. “My favorite artist is Frank Zappa. I like putting a little bit of spank on it and a little weirdness. I was the bass player and the lead singer of a not-very-good punk band. It was punk, and we’d incorporate some garage rock elements into it. Avant-garde. Ahead of our time.”
Mason is an exceptional promo, and he’s been running his mouth almost as long as he can remember. “When I was a young child, I have an older brother. We were driving to my Mamaw’s house, and mom said that I kept trying to talk. And my brother would talk over me. I remember she dropped him off at Mawmaw’s, and Momma turned to me and said, ‘Silas, you can talk now.’ And I’ve never stopped since.”
He loves being paired with manager Pollo Del Mar. “It was just one of those things I think started out as a joke. Whenever they were putting us together in the back, they said, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if some big redneck dude and Pollo Del Mar were hooked up as a tag team. What they don’t know, and what both of us knew, is that me and Pollo are stars. What stars do, is they get over. And they will do anything to get over. So we did this thing when we first got out there, where I swapped out the dip I had and put it into Pollo’s mouth, and then she swapped it back into my mouth, and people went ‘Woah, that’s a little too much.’ But you’re not gonna know your limits till you push them. And me and Pollo are literally doing whatever we gotta do to become the stars we’re meant to be in this business. (Thom) Latimer and Kamille say they’re the NWA power couple. Hell no. Me and Pollo are the power couple. Cause I’m the strongest and biggest man who ever lived, and Pollo’s the smartest prettiest woman who ever lived.”
Mason has his eyes set on NWA gold, and potentially whooping wrestlers from AEW. “The goal would be to eventually defend the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title and National Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom someday. Cause hell, I’ll just collect every piece of gold and hardware I can, And if any of those jabronis at Jericho’s company wanna come get some, they can come get some, too. Tell Jericho if he wants a size 16 boot up his *ss on the cruise, tell him to holler at the ‘Thrillbilly.’ That would be an honor for him to step into the ring with me.”
Follow “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason on Twitter, and check out “Thrillbilly” merchandise at AngryLemonade.net.
