The son of former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Raja Jackson, is currently under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department after he brutally attacked wrestler Stuart Smith, known in the ring as “Syko Stu”, during an event held on August 23.
The attack, which has left Smith in the hospital since, was captured live on the streaming platform Kick by Raja himself and shows Raja entering the ring and essentially blindsiding Smith with a power-slam and a following flurry of punches.
Raja can be seen slamming Smith on the back of his head, almost immediately knocking him out, after repeatedly telling his live-video viewers that, “I’m gonna hit him for real.” The livestreamed video then depicts Raja repeatedly striking the unconscious wrestler over 15 times in the head and face with a fury of punches, before other nearby wrestlers finally intervened.
Raja then walked out of the event and shut off his livestream before driving away and potentially evading a police response.
However, before leaving, one of the wrestlers called Raja and said, “The dude is still flatlined in the ring, they can’t wake him up.”
Raja responded with, “My bad.”
According to Smith’s family, he is now awake and stable, though still in critical care.
“Thank you everyone for your prayers, concerns, and kind words for my brother Stu,” Andrew Smith, his brother, posted on Facebook. “Please continue to keep him in your prayers. He’s currently stable but in critical care. At this time, we’re focused on his recovery and appreciate all the support.”
Smith, who is informally known as an “indie” wrestler, has not achieved huge mainstream success with his wrestling career. Yet, he has previously mentioned in promo videos for various wrestling companies that he has worked for that he has PTSD after his military service, and that wrestling was an outlet, a passion project per se, to help him deal with that ailment.
The KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy issued a statement condemning the attack:
“First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with our brother Mr. Stuart Smith (Syko Stu) as he remains a priority and we are monitoring his well being. What was supposed to be a planned and agreed upon wrestling spot, turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr. Smith. This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred. In the 17 years of operation of KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, there has never been anything as heinous take place such as this and we apologize to our patrons and fans,” the organization wrote.
Raja Jackson’s father, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, addressed the situation on social media, essentially “fence-sitting” by expressing concern for Smith’s health and his son, Raja.
“I want to clear up the misinformation about my son Raja. I’ve been confirmed that the wrestler (Stewart Smith, aka Syko Stu) is awake and stable,” Rampage Jackson wrote. “Raja was unexpectedly hit in the side of the head by him moments before Smith’s match. I thought it was part of the show. It was bad judgment, and a work that went wrong. Raja is an MMA fighter, not a pro wrestler, and had no business being involved in an event like this. I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL! He suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact. My main concern now is that Mr. Smith will make a speedy recovery. I apologize on his behalf and to KICK for the situation,” Raja’s dad posted to X after the attack.
“Rampage” himself was arrested after a felony hit-and-run car crash back in 2008, per ESPN.
Both Rampage and Raja were live-streaming at separate locations on the KICK platform during the night. When Raja’s father was shown footage of the brutal attack on his livestream, he nervously said, “It’s real bad, Raja might go to jail,” before ending his own live video.
The attack may have been partly triggered by a previous interaction between the two men.
Earlier footage shows Smith allegedly striking Raja with a canned drink backstage, which Smith reportedly believed was a part of the “storyline,” thinking Raja was a wrestler himself, not just a fan backstage. After the incident backstage, both men shook hands, and Smith can be audibly heard apologizing to Raja after smashing a can on his head.
Yet, after the apology, Raja continues to tell his live audience that he was going to legitimately beat the man up, not just play along with the “pro-wrestling” storyline. Raja then waited in the front row for over 30 minutes until Smith entered the ring, running in and surprising Smith with the brutal blindside.
On another separate livestream, a few days prior to the attack, Raja was severely concussed while sparring with a fellow MMA partner. He mentioned that he was still experiencing concussive symptoms, like continuous vomiting, before the attack on Smith.
Both Jacksons have remained mainly out of public view since live-streaming the attack, and the LAPD has not yet confirmed whether any charges have been formally filed, as of the time of publication. However, according to some reports, Raja is currently under investigation for Felony Battery.
The Dallas Express will update readers on Smith’s health and recovery timeline as more information becomes available.