Witness: Pro wrestler ‘was choking on his own blood and teeth’ after taking more than 20 punches to the face while unconscious
(This story first appeared at USA TODAY.)
LOS ANGELES – The son of former UFC fighter Quinton Jackson allegedly attacked a man during a wrestling show that was live streamed in Los Angeles on Saturday, hospitalizing him.
Raja Jackson interrupted a match during the “Knox Experience” show put on by the WWE ID-affiliated KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, picking up and slamming Stuart Smith, who wrestles under the name Syko Stu, and repeatedly punching him. The incident was live streamed on Jackson’s Kick account.
Wrestling journalist Sean Ross Sapp posted on social media following the incident that Smith was “rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.”
“What was supposed to be a planned and agreed upon wrestling spot, turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr. Smith,” KnokX Pro Wrestling wrote in a statement on Facebook posted Sunday, Aug. 24. “This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred.”
Douglas Malo, a wrestler who was involved in the ensuing melee to stop Jackson’s alleged attack, told USA TODAY in an interview that Smith was awake and talking Sunday, but had broken bones in his face and lost “a lot of teeth.” Malo added that Smith could be released from the hospital on Sunday.
“He was choking on his own blood and teeth,” Malo said. “Somebody reminded me there’s kids there and then I was like, ‘Oh my God.'”
USA TODAY reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment on if an investigation into the incident has been opened and did not receive an immediate response.
What happened during the incident?
The live stream shows that Jackson had been milling about the backstage area for the event prior to the show.
Smith approaches Jackson and start to address him, while in character, and strike him with a beer can. It is unclear if the can had been “gimmicked” or modified to be safely used as a weapon.
Smith is then informed that Jackson is “not a worker” – meaning that he is not a wrestler – and the two are separated following a stare down, as seen on the live stream. Smith attempts to apologize after KnokX trainer Reno Anoa’i says “he always think that we’re working over here, like it’s a part of the (expletive) storyline.”
The apology is eventually accepted after it is agreed that Jackson will be a part of the match. The two shake hands multiple times on the live stream. “We’ll make something out of it,” Anoa’i says.
As he is taken from the backstage area into the crowd, Jackson is told by a wrestler, identified by Malo as Andre Joel Hudson, to “give him his receipt.” A receipt is a wrestling term for an equal response to a previous transgression.
“As long as I get my lick back, I’m straight,” Jackson says on the live stream.
Malo described Hudson as a friend of Jackson’s and a “hot head.”
“You’re gassing this volatile person that you know has angers issues up … Then you basically convince him to go out there and ruin his life and another man’s life all so you can feel like you’re some big somebody,” Malo said.
USA TODAY reached out to Hudson through social media and did not receive an immediate response.
Jackson proceeds to watch the show from the front row while reading comments from the Kick live stream and appears to become increasingly agitated.
“I’m not playing no games,” Jackson says to the camera.
Jackson spoke to the live stream during the multi-team tag match that involved Smith saying, “I’m not picking up the dude.” The match began over an hour after the backstage confrontation. “They told me to hit him and just leave, someone will pull me off of him and we’ll leave. I’m telling you I’m gonna hit him as many times as I can, watch,” he added.
Jackson then is seen entering the ring after Smith hits a spear on his opponent and has his back turned to where Jackson was sitting. Malo said that the spear was the cue for Jackson to enter.
He proceeds to pick up and slam Smith to the mat, mount him and land at least 20 punches, the live stream shows. Smith appears unconscious following either the slam or the first punch.
A wrestler involved in the match attempts to pull Jackson off of Smith before Malo does so successfully. Multiple wrestlers are required to keep Jackson in a corner of a ring while Smith lies bloodied.
Jackson is then escorted out of the venue by security and multiple wrestlers, followed by an expletive laden rant captured on the live stream.
After being driven to a separate parking lot during the live stream, Jackson receives a call from a person, apparently Hudson, who tells him Smith is “flatline” in the ring. “My bad,” Jackson said in response.
Wrestling journalist calls incident ‘worst thing I’ve ever seen’
Veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer said the incident “may be the worst thing I’ve ever seen in a ring” in a post on X following the incident.
“I don’t condone my son’s actions AT ALL!,” Quinton Jackson said in a post on X the night of Aug. 23. He also claimed that his son had suffered a concussion from sparring “days ago.”
“It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong,” Quinton Jackson wrote. “Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business involved in an event like this.”
USA TODAY reached out to Raja Jackson through social media and did not receive an immediate response.
Malo told USA TODAY that a child he invited to the show was traumatized by the incident.
“That kid’s sitting there like, ‘Are you okay? Was that real? What’s happening? Why didn’t anybody help him?'” Malo said. “You could see the fear on his face.”
Malo called for Jackson and Hudson to be prosecuted for the incident. “This is just absurd on its face,” he said.
