In an exclusive interview with PWMania, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, ‘Thrillbilly’ Silas Mason (@ThrillbillyTCB) sits down with Scott Mitchell (@scott44mitchell) to discuss his time in NWA, so far, including his NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship reign, NWA 78, Comet TV, signing with the promotion, his match with Thom Latimer at NWA 77, Japan, The Southern Six, Hard Times, The Iron Claw, his goals, and much more.
As the NWA 78 show quickly approaches, what is your mindset on heading into that show?
“Almost one year. Coming up on my own anniversary, as it were, of my championship reign. You were there, Scott. You were in the building when the Thrillbilly won the big one. What have I learned in this year? It’s not just about winning. Sure. That’s great. Anybody can win a championship. It’s about keeping it. It’s about defending it. So, NWA 78. I hope, for my anniversary gift, from Billy Corgan, that he gives me the best opponent I’ve ever faced.”
The roster is so unbelievably stacked in the NWA. Is there anybody you have your eyes on?
“There are a lot of guys that you couldn’t help but keep your eyes on. Trevor Murdoch is one of those guys who used to be kind of unassuming, walking around with his flannel shirt on. Now, he claims he’s the king of professional wrestling. There are no kings in America, and there are no kings in the NWA. I’m the only one who gets to rule the roost. Then you, of course, have some guys like Pretty Boy Smooth and Talos. Two guys who are over seven feet tall. I’m the biggest man who ever lived. Not them. Then, Carson Drake, running his mouth, with the rest of those goons in the Federation of Champions, says that he’s the ‘most successful guy.’ Where’s the hardware to prove it, Carson? You don’t have anything to prove your success. All you do is run your mouth. You got Mike Mondo, who is the National Champion. If he could get past Bryan Idol, that’d be a hell of an opponent. You have Spencer Slade, a world champion in his own right with the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. If he could put on a couple of pounds, start eating a little bit, maybe he could get up to the heavyweight division. I have all kinds of challenges, and I’m ready to face them all.”
We recently saw the NWA make its Comet TV debut. What has it been like for you to be at the top of the mountain in the NWA during arguably one of its hottest periods yet?
“I get noticed a lot more in airports, I’ll tell you that. I also get stopped a lot. The TSA guys know I’m traveling so much, now they just know me as champ. They say, ‘Hey, Champ,’ and I just go through the thing. It’s one of those things that’s awesome to see the visibility of the product is spreading. My neighbor the other day. Normally, if I have this pulled back in a hat, people can’t tell. It’s like I’m Clark Kent and Superman. People can’t tell. I’m just regular, old Silas Mason. Once I take it off, it’s ‘Thrillbilly’ Silas Mason. So, he was sitting there, and he was like, ‘I’ve been watching you’ on the Comet affiliate that you can watch here in Blunt County every Saturday, 4 pm. But no, he was telling me, ‘I was watching you the other day, and I didn’t even know it was you until we started talking about it.’ He asked what I did, and I told him I wrestled. So, he put two and two together. You’re that guy from TV.”
When you first signed with the NWA, what went through your mind, and what were your goals back then?
“I was always going to be an NWA guy. Day one. It was one of those things that, it never crossed my mind not to sign the deal. Because NWA Wrestling is what I always wanted to do. From the day I first started in the business. I watched these old territory tapes. Watched Barry Wyndham, Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, Terry Funk, anybody named Terry, really, who wrestled for the NWA, was probably pretty good. Just that lineage and wanting to be able to build something. I saw the potential there. A lot of guys, I’m not telling anybody something they don’t already know, but they can tell I can talk and I’m in good shape, I get calls from other places. But it’s one of those things where I want to build something here because this is what I believe in. Corgan is a guy who’s been on top of the mountain in the music industry and had his finger on the pulse. He knows what’s happening. He ain’t a guy that blows smoke. He’s never been someone who’s like, ‘boy, it’s happening before.’ Now he’s like, ‘Boy, it’s happening, so you better be ready for it.’ I trust him on that.”
Was the history and lineage the biggest calling point for you to sign with the NWA?
“1000%. Listen. The former guy who carried around the big W up there in New York, Cody Rhodes. There’s a reason why. When he started that other company, AEW, he didn’t even have an inkling of wanting to win their World Championship. There’s a reason why he decided to come down here, slum it, work in the real mud and the dirt where it actually happens, and had to have that. Because his daddy had that. Because Ric Flair had that. Because Terry Funk, Harley Race, Lou Thesz, Jack Briscoe, Orville Brown, I can go on. Ricky Steamboat. They all had that. If you want to be someone in wrestling, you’re going to try to become the World’s Heavyweight Champion. There’s only one World Heavyweight Championship. There have been 60 men in the entire history of the planet; more people have won Olympic Gold Medals in wrestling than they have ever won this. I plan on being buried with it. So, stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”
What has it been like to see people come to NWA and grow as a wrestler and as a character?
“That’s the thing. It’s about growth. If you come in here, it’s one of the things. I don’t care if you’re someone from the Dead Fed or from the Trampoline Cowboy School. If you come to the NWA, you’d better come to work hard, grow, and get better. That’s the only way it’s going to work. We’re all bailing water out of the ship at the same time. If you ain’t bailing water, we’re chucking you out, because you’re contributing to the problem. You know what I’m saying? Slimeballz are a great example. Went from puny little gross kids to these beefy gross men. Right in front of our eyes. Mike Mondo, someone we all watched on national television, became, in front of our eyes, a monster. Just looks like you stacked cannonballs on top of themselves. Aron Stevens now has a group where he’s basically the modern Bobby Heenan. You have guys like The Pope. You have guys like Kratos, who’s just a brawling monster. Every single time these guys go out, you know that it’s all on the line. That’s why I appreciate it and why I want to fight all of them.”
You won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship last August at NWA 77. What was this moment like for you to finally hoist that title over your head?
“Well, the part that meant the most was to be able to go hug my mom, and her being there for it, and being able to say that we did it. Being able to see your child accomplish their dream, when there’s not a lot of dreams that get accomplished in this world, you know? It has a way of crushing. When you have the ability and you’re fortunate enough to do something like that, you want to share that moment. Being able to share that with her was crazy special. Whenever I won, the moment the ref’s hand hit three, I thought, it’s time to get to work. Then, after that, I was like, wait, where is my mom? It’s one of those things. The biggest thing is defending it. You become the champion when you defend it. That’s when you come to appreciate it.”
You had an excellent match with the former champion, Thom Latimer, at that event. What was it like to work with him?
“I would have had the stinkiest match in the world if it won me the world title. I would have dragged him through the mud and made him just the most boring thing that anybody has ever watched in their lives if I walked out of there with that. Fortunately, Thom was willing to meet me where I was at, which was in the middle of that ring, and he was willing to throw some leather. That makes for an exciting match. It’s one of those things where we did it again, and I’d do it a thousand times. Thom is one of those guys who, fortunately, I don’t have to because we have rankings, but you don’t want to have to see how many times you can touch the stove before you get too badly burnt. Thom is an excellent man and an excellent opponent. He proved that as champion. He’s going to continue to prove that whether he goes for the National Championship again, or if he wants to become a Television Champion. He looks, now with his new haircut, I think he’s a model every time he walks out there. I was like, did we hire Tom Cruise, Tom Sellick? We hired a new Tom.”
You recently put your title on the line against the monstrous Nihan. What was it like to work with such a force of nature?
“Thom came up to me, Nihan’s a monster, and I’m not a man who’s backing down from a challenge. As a champion, I’m still trying to prove myself, to whom, you ask? To myself. I have to look at a guy like Nihan, 400 pounds, almost seven feet tall, and I have to know that I can beat him. Every single time. You don’t do that by lifting weights, and you don’t ever go do it. You have to actually go do it. So, if I’m going to say I fight dragons and slay monsters, I have to actually do it. You know, Thom knows that. I’m sure he, and everyone on the roster, wants to line me up with all of their tough friends so they can soften me up. I’m the hardest man in professional wrestling. You can put that in print.”
One of your first big defenses came against Matt Cardona in a Peachtree Street Fight. What was this whole match like, and to work with Cardona?
“I sent him packing. I sent him packing. He left. He was like man, when I was NWA World Champion, it was easy. You had a bunch of these guys who were coming down from the Fed, or going off to Trampoline Cowboy School, and he could rule the roost. Then he came down when the biggest man who ever lived was World Champion, and he found out he couldn’t cut it. So, he said, I’m going to go hang out with my wife, earn a paycheck, and do that instead. He quit in the middle of our match. I choked him unconscious. But, he didn’t tap out. So any time, Matt, you want to lock up again, I will make you submit. I will make you quit. I will make you say that I am the meanest man in professional wrestling.”
You also got to make your Wrestling REVOLVER debut, where you put that title on the line against Rich Swann. What was it like to head out to REVOLVER and work with Swann?
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Sami Callihan ever since he beat Eddie Edwards head in with that bat. So, going to Wrestling REVOLVER was pretty cool. Especially going and defending it against a former champion, like Rich Swann, who’s a man who I have the utmost respect for and is another guy who completely changed who he is as a person, has evolved, and is a better version of himself than he has ever been. The last time the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship was defended in Dayton, Ohio, until the Thrillbilly showed up, was Adam Pearce vs. Colt Cabana 15 years ago. So, not only am I coming and showing the people of Dayton, Ohio, a good time on the Thrill Em All tour, but I’m making history every stop. To be able to make history with Rich is really fun, too. I’ll wrestle him any day of the week, as well.”
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t bring up your Worlds Championship defense against EFFY. What was this moment like for you working with someone as out there and eccentric as EFFY?
“He’s eccentric. He’s esoteric, even I’d say. He’s a very well-bred, well-thought-out, not only controversial, but cerebral individual in there. I think EFFY is an incredible competitor and another valuable member to add to the NWA roster. Again, another guy who has yet to sign a contract with a major company for a reason. It ain’t just for holding hats what he has up there. That’s another guy who made himself into a one-man industry in this business. You talk about New Gay Bullet Club, Big Gay Brunch, etc. Every single time EFFY does something, it’s an event. So, being able to go there and have EFFY be a victim of the Thrill Em All tour, that’s all the publicity a boy can dream of.”
Looking back at your reign as a whole, were there any matches that stood out for you?
“Man, there’s this guy, Aaron Roberts. I wrestled him. It’s been eight years since I’ve been at the EPW arena. This is a guy who was an ID guy, and for some reason, they didn’t see the bright lights in him. But he’s since gone on to AAW in Chicago, Freelance, and Memphis Wrestling. He’s a guy that I have nothing but respect for. I think he’s going to be a real force to come here in the future. I’ve had over 45 defenses, so I have to go through the rolodex a little bit so I remember. Every defense is special, I remember. Oh yeah, there’s this one piece of crap in New Mexico, Hobo Hank. I hate that guy. I’ll break his neck. Matt Brannigan in DOA, that was a great one. Check that out on indie wrestling TV. I’ve got some more coming up, but I can’t tell you about them.”
You got to defend your title overseas in Japan at Korakuen Hall. What was this whole experience like for you?
“It’s surreal, man. It’s one of those things where when I walked out there, especially because I came out to different music than I normally do, they really like Jazz over there, so they had me coming out to Galaxy Express. This was Harley Race, Terry Funk, and every time the NWA World Heavyweight Champion comes out, in All Japan, he comes out to Galaxy Express. So, that’s my theme song in Japan. I’m cool with it. Then, the guy I went up against, former Wrestle-1 Fusion Champion, Shotaro Ashino. He’s now in this faction. I’m not sure what their whole organizational structure is. I don’t know if he’s the leader or not, but HAVOC. That’s him, Omari Palmer, and XYON. Those are the three big, bad dudes. I knew I was coming into his yard and coming into his territory. The people there. I don’t know what it is about people who go overseas. I think they suck, and they paid to go over there. But they say the Japanese crowd is quiet. They were loud the entire time I was there. From the moment I went through the curtain to the moment I left. They were either cheering for Ashino, booing me, or then, respecting me by the end of it. That’s the thing. That crowd wants to see two competitors go at it in there. There not interested in all the gaga. They want to see meat, and they want to see it executed well. They want to see two guys who know what they’re doing go at it. I’d love to go back. The champion, Kento Miyahara, says he’s the best. But what he doesn’t know is that I’m the best. Miyahara, the World Heavyweight Champion, doesn’t have three crowns yet, and I may be looking to put one on my head.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up The Southern Six. Your group with Kerry Morton and Alex Taylor was one of my favorites. What was it like to work with them, and where did it all go wrong?
“Man, you’re asking me. Where did it all go wrong? I thought we were doing great. We had accomplished so much. I was the National Champion, Alex had been the World Juniors Heavyweight Champion, and he and Kerry were the NWA US Tag Team Champions. Finally, we did it, we got the big one, bringing it home to the Southern Six compound. But during that story, maybe you didn’t hear a lot of individual success for Kerry. He is one of those guys who, his dad told him to step over people and show himself to the limelight, as he’s teaching him down at the School of Morton and stuff. I remember that. I used to go down there, and maybe he’s teaching him to do that more, too, step over people, show himself off. He already tried to screw me out of the ten pounds of gold, the most prestigious championship in the history of this sport, once. He tried to do it by putting Bryan Idol’s limp carcass over me. It’s going to take more than that, boy. You’d better bring an entire army with you in Atlanta, Georgia, because at Hard Times, I’m going to destroy Kerry Morton and the entire Morton lineage.”
At Hard Times in Atlanta, Georgia, you will finally be getting him one-on-one. What can we expect from this match, and what’s your mindset heading into it?
“You want a good match? I think a good match will see a lot of blood and screaming from Kerry Morton when I take my size 16 and stick it up his pampered little backside. He’s a punk… We were the only friends he had. We were his last chance at having real friends in this business, and he flushed it down the toilet.”
You also got to star in The Iron Claw, as Terry Gordy, alongside Zac Efron. What was this whole experience like for you?
“Dude, it was awesome. The only thing that wasn’t cool about it was having to go down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Baton Lose is what they should call it. Actually, that’s exactly what happened when the Tennessee Vols stomped the LSU Tigers during my filming there, so I thought it was great. I got to go to the airport, fully decked out in my Vols gear, and everyone was mad. But the filming of it was awesome, man. Zac Efron was super easy to work with, and he just got it. It’s not hard to imagine why he’s already super athletic, and he’s just used to the camera and being dramatic, so why wouldn’t he? Jeremy Allen White, another amazing guy. James Beard, I want to shout out. He was the dude who was the referee in the movie. That whole movie thing, when James and I were hanging out, got me hanging out one night with ol’ Stan Hansen, Gerald Briscoe, and Barry Wyndham. So, it’s one of those things that leads to the other, you know?”
Did it mean anything extra to you to be in a movie honoring The Von Erich’s, who did a lot for the southern wrestling scene, and being able to portray Terry Gordy?
“Honestly, that was the biggest one for me. As the dude, shoutout to Miranda, his daughter. It’s one of those things where when I started in wrestling, he was the guy I gravitated to the most. He acted a lot like me, wild and crazy. He had a similar body type, which was the same, tall and fat. So, you know, then I lose the weight and become the World Champion, and then I get to carry on that. Continue the legacy of his like going to All Japan. You go down the Terry Gordy pipeline in the US, and it leads you to the Terry Gordy pipeline in Japan. He and all those boys always worked for Baba. It’s a family company, like NWA. That’s a lineage that you get to carry on, not only as the NWA World Champion, but living forever on the Silver Screen. Dude, silver and gold, baby. Silver and gold.”
Looking ahead, what are your future goals?
“I want to be buried with this belt, much like Whitey Caldwell, the former Southeastern Champion. Look him up, he was literally buried with the championship. I’m going to be the Triple Crown Champion, as well. And just to keep defending this belt. Making the NWA the absolute pinnacle of this sport and making it so that people want to come to these shows and continue to sell out these venues. You know what I’m saying? Upwards and onwards. Excelsior! That’s where we’re trying to go. There’s no stopping. There’s no end until the wheels fall off.”
Why should fans check out the NWA?
“It’s the most exciting professional wrestling you will ever find in this modern day and age. Sure, if you want to go watch some plastic overpriced crap, you can do that. Sure, if you want to watch a bunch of untrained guys fall on their necks getting hurt every week, you can do that. That’s not professional wrestling. If you want to see big men beating the crap out of each other, and stunning, athletic women, flying all over the place, there’s only one spot you can go to: the National Wrestling Alliance. Every Saturday at 4 pm EST, on Comet. Check your local listings.”
Do you have any future opponents you’d like to share the ring with?
“There’s a ton of them. A bunch of those guys are in that number one contenders’ match. You have Jack Talos and Heath Slater. I would love to wrestle Jinder Mahal. Get the rest of the 3MB and show them what a real musician can do. Jeff Jarrett is another guy. I’d love to show him that I’m great. Ain’t I great, Jeff? There are a ton of guys out there. There are a ton of guys in the NWA. Spencer Slade. Mike Mondo. Mike Knox. I’ve never wrestled Mike Knox. I have wrestled Trevor Murdoch, but it was when he was the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion; now he knows I’d beat him like a drum, which is why he’s afraid to face me. That’s why he knows he’s going off in La La Land pretending to be a king. The king is right here, daddy. I’m melting the crown down and sharing it with all the Thrillionaires out there and all my Lilbillys. Daisy Kill stole my other dream match. I want to wrestle Eric Smalls in a Dog Collar match. He punched me in the gonads. I hope Eric Smalls wears him out. I’d love to defend my championship against him. He’s another dream opponent. I don’t think he (Daisy Kill) has been beaten in two years in the NWA.”
