Stuart Smith, the California-based professional wrestler who goes by the ring name "Syko Stu," is "stable but in critical care" after allegedly being brutally beaten by mixed martial artist Raja Jackson at a Knokx Pro Wrestling event Saturday night, brother Andrew Smith wrote in a Sunday late-night Facebook post.
Smith was the victim of an alleged assault that was captured live on streaming platform Kick over the weekend. In the now-viral video, Jackson — the son of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson — can be seen entering the ring at the event, hoisting Smith above his head, then slamming him hard onto the mat and unloading more than 20 unanswered punches to the head of the seemingly unconscious Smith before being forcibly ripped away by a swarm of other wrestlers.
"Thank you everyone for your prayers, concerns, and kind words for my brother Stu. Please continue to keep him I your prayers. He's currently stable but in critical care. At this time we're focused on his recovery and appreciate all the support. Also we currently do not have a GoFundMe set up, any links posted are not affiliated with us."
The disturbing incident is currently under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, as first reported by TMZ and the New York Times.
Fightful reported Saturday night that the spot between Jackson and Smith was planned however the onslaught of seemingly legitimate punches and the damage Smith suffered was not. Smith was reportedly rushed to the hospital with serious injuries following the alleged attack.
Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy, a WWE ID affiliate school operated by WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, called Jackson's action "heinous" and "egregious" in a statement released Sunday.
"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."
Douglas Malo, a wrestler on the show who helped stop Jackson's alleged attack, told USA Today on Monday that Smith lost "a lot of teeth" and suffered several broken bones in his face.
"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.'"
"That kid's sitting there like, 'Are you OK? Was that real? What's happening? Why didn't anybody help him?' You could see the fear on his face."
Jackson, 25, has experience as a professional MMA fighter. The son of MMA royalty, Jackson compiled a 4-0 record on the sport's amateur scene before turning pro in 2023 and losing his professional lightweight debut in a unanimous decision against Steve Collins at United Fight League 3.
Jackson's father, former UFC champ "Rampage" Jackson, posted a statement late Saturday night stating that his son's attack was "a work that went wrong" — wrestling parlance for a staged fight that unexpectedly became real — and that Raja "had no business involved in an event like this." The elder Jackson stated that his son "suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact."
The incident appeared to stem from an exchange between Jackson and Smith that was live-streamed on Kick earlier Saturday, in which Smith approached Jackson backstage and confronted him in-character under the belief that Jackson was also a professional wrestler working on the Knokx Pro Wrestling show. After striking Jackson in the head with a beer can, Smith can be heard on camera asking whether Jackson is going to "sell" the move, a wrestling term for exaggerating the damage a strike inflicts as part of the performance.
After being informed that Jackson is not a professional wrestler, Smith can be seen on stream apologizing several times for the misunderstanding and the two seemingly shake hands multiple times to make up, striking an agreement that Jackson will become a part of Smith's match later in the night. Jackson can then be seen on stream being told by a wrestler backstage, identified by Malo to USA Today as Andre Joel Hudson, to give Smith "his receipt" — aka a retaliatory strike — in the match.
While subsequently watching the show from the front row throughout the night, Jackson could be heard making repeated comments to his Kick stream alluding to the violence he planned to inflict on Smith.
"They told me to hit him and just leave, someone will pull me off of him and we'll leave," Jackson said on-stream at one point. "I'm telling you, I'm going to hit him as many times as I can. Watch."
Smith is a military veteran who joined KnokX Pro Wrestling in 2009 after retiring from his service. In a prior promotional clip released by the wrestling academy, Smith said he "suffers from PTSD" and began wrestling as a means to give him something to "focus on" as he adjusted back into civilian life.
Dave Meltzer, noted wrestling historian and founder of the Wrestler Observer Newsletter, on Saturday night called Jackson's attack potentially "the worst thing I've ever seen in a ring."
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