The son of UFC Legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Raja Jackson, was arrested by the Los Angeles police on September 18 after his attack on professional wrestler, Syko Stu, aka Stuart Smith.
As per TMZ, he was taken into custody early in the morning and was booked on a felony charge. While currently behind bars, he is being held on a bond of $50,000.
The incident took place on August 23 during the event, Knox Experience, hosted by KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy. Jackson live-streamed the entire moment where he got into the ring and brutally attacked Smith, punching and slamming him repeatedly.
What prompted the attack was Smith smashing a beer can on Jackson’s head moments before. As the professional wrestler wrestled in the ring, Jackson could be heard on his stream saying things like, “I’m telling you, Imma hit him as many times as I can. No, they didn’t tell me to fake it. They said I can hit him for real“, and “It’s always been my dream to f*ck up a pro wrestler for real.“
Back when it happened, Rampage also admitted that his son should spend some time behind bars. During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, he said, “I think that he should do a little time, do a little community service.“
The WWE Legends Who Supported Raja Jackson
Many names in the industry spoke about Raja Jackson’s brutal assault on Stuart Smith, which continued even after the latter had fallen unconscious. While the majority were on Smith’s side, two names played the Devil’s Advocates – Rob Van Dam and Mark Henry.
RVD took to social media claiming that he had the 25-year-old’s back. He posted,
So far, I got Raja’s back. Looking forward to talking about it tomorrow on my podcast. 🤘
After receiving a ton of backlash on his comments, Van Dam dived deeper into his statement on his podcast, stating, “I want to start out by saying, best wishes to f***ing Syko Stu Smith. Hopefully, he will regain his health and do it quickly. That’s a shame. He definitely didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
The professional wrestler then added that his words were misinterpreted when he said he had Jackson’s back. He said, “I’m not picking a side. If I did, I’m not even saying that it would be Raja…What I’m saying is, I see the pathway that he took that led to what happened.“
Elsewhere, former powerlifter and wrestler Mark Henry also talked about the incident, even putting some of the blame on the victim. Talking to TMZ Sports, he stated that he doesn’t know the full story, only what he saw.
Blaming Smith for inciting “a riot with a kid“, Henry said,
I don’t know the full story but I do know what I saw. It looked like he [Jackson] wasn’t smart to what was going on and the dude that was messing with him [Stu] bit off more than he could chew. And you got to be careful one, with who you mess with and two, and who are you as a veteran for inciting a riot with a kid?
While he admitted that Jackson should have at least shown restraint, which he did not, he also blamed Smith for instigating him by smashing the beer can on his head. In Henry’s words, “…you bust a bottle over a guy’s head and talk trash like that guy was not going to do nothing, yeah, you’re at fault.”
Syko Stu’s Latest Health Update
When Rampage first talked about his son’s actions in a lengthy X post, he also gave an update on Smith’s health, stating, “I’ve been confirmed that the wrestler is awake and stable.” Now, there’s more we know about his recovery.
In a post made on Smith’s Instagram on August 31, he and his wife, Contessa Patterson, released a statement revealing, “Stuart has been released from the hospital and is now home resting.“
Talking about the injuries he sustained, they stated that he had a serious head injury, trauma to both upper and lower jaws, and a maxilla bone fracture, “which unfortunately resulted in the loss of several teeth“.
Recovery is a long way to go for Smith, but he appears to be in good spirits, even smiling for the camera. Check out the full statement below:
A post shared by SykoStu (@sykostu)
What are your thoughts on Jackson’s arrest? Do you think he’ll get more time than what his father expects? Let us know in the comments section below and follow FandomWire for more updates!
