Silas Mason grew up in Blount County and has traveled the world with NWA Wrestling, winning the Heavyweight Championship in November.
BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — It’s been a busy year for Silas Mason, the William Blount High School graduate crowned the NWA Wrestling Heavyweight Champion late last month.
Mason’s got shows all over ahead of Christmas, including a special event not too far from his hometown of Maryville, at Farragut’s Cotton Eyed Joe on Dec. 17.
That’s where 10News caught up with Mason, known in the ring as the Thrillbilly. The last time he caught up with WBIR, he’d landed a role in a major Hollywood movie, “The Iron Claw,” starring actor Zac Effron.
“See that right here, it’s the largest Arm in Blount County,” he told 10News Today in 2023. “I don’t know how large those TVs in the house are, but darling, pull them back out, because I’ve got two of them.”
Mason refers to his arm muscles as Mount Thrillamanjaro, his play on Mount Kilimanjaro, and has an outgoing persona, both in and out of the ring.
“They say Mount Everast is the highest peak on this planet, but I happen to know that’s not true,” he said. “The highest peak in the world is Mount Thrillamanjaro, baby, and it’s right here and it’s in Blount County, Tennessee.”
Mason said he owes his success to growing up in Blount County and the values his family instilled in him.
He said his dad told him to think of himself as a walking billboard, which means he has to represent himself and his hometown well.
“If every single day of my life, since I won this title, felt the exact same here as it does now, that means I was champion the entire time, feel me?” Mason said.
He said if he can be a world champion, so can other young wrestling fans in East Tennessee, and he encourages them not to give up on their dreams.
“I want every one of those people in Blount County to know, and everyone who’s just never thought they could do it, never doubt your powers unless you want to give power to your doubts,” he said. “You are the architect of your own destiny, pal, and I’m living proof of that. Ain’t nobody thought a kid from Blount County who didn’t have a famous last name could ever hold on to his, but the 865 done did it.”