Syko Stu is alert and talking, says wrestler Douglas Malo.
Malo, who was the wrestler that pulled Raja Jackson off of an unconscious Stu at a KnokX Pro event in Los Angeles on Saturday, spoke to TMZ Sports on Wednesday. He gave an update on Stu’s condition, stating that he still has some very serious injuries but nothing life-threatening.
“[Stu] remembers mostly what happened during the early parts of the day. He’s talking a little bit. He’s alert. He’s still got some injuries that are very serious. Not, like, life-threatening serious, but facial injuries, stuff like that,” Malo said to TMZ Sports.
Malo continued to say he’s upset at the situation for multiple reasons, also noting that after he pulled Jackson off of Stu, Jackson attempted to take him down as well.
“I’m pissed at what he did to my friend. I’m pissed for him punching me in the face. I’m pissed for him that when I went to take him off and told him to calm down, he tried to double leg me.”
“If he would have double legged me, he would have done the same thing to me that he did to Stu, you know?”
The GoFundMe page to support Stu’s recovery is up over $153,000 as of this writing. The top donor is YouTube personality Mr. Beast, who donated $10,000. The second-highest donation is from Derek MPMD, a popular bodybuilding influencer, and Chris Jericho is the highest-donating wrestler thus far, having contributed $2500. Earlier today, Finn Balor and Nic Nemeth both donated $1000. Jack Perry contributed $1000 yesterday as well. Stephon Strickland, Swerve’s real name, contributed $1000 recently, too.
Stu’s conversation with TMZ Sports is available below:
Rampage Jackson doesn’t condone his son’s actions.
In a livestream on Tuesday, the former UFC star addressed the incident that took place over the weekend between son Raja and independent wrestler Syko Stu. A previously planned angle at a KnokX Pro Wrestling event on Saturday turned into straight out assault when Raja took down Stu and hammered him with multiple unguarded punches until other wrestlers pulled him off.
“I feel bad about what happened to Syko Stu,” Rampage said. “I don’t condone what my son did, very unfortunate…I wasn’t there. I’m a father, I gotta have my son’s back. I’m going to let justice play out, take this to court…I can’t talk about any details or stuff like that. I can’t really go into nothing. This s*** has put me in a bad mood. I feel bad about Syko Stu and his family, his family had to see that s***. I just wish I could have been there.”
Rampage said that while there are moments where a father is proud of their son and times where they are not, at the end of the day he is still Raja’s father.
“Hopefully one day I can meet Syko Stu and shake his hand and have a man-to-man with him and stuff. I’m just going to get back to being myself,” he said. “I don’t got the right words to say, the haters are going to twist my words…I wasn’t there. Ya’ll need to know I don’t condone Raja’s conduct. And I hope Syko Stu can forgive me, myself, as a dad, for not understanding everything.”
🚨 Rampage Jackson just went live to address the situation involving his son Raja:
“I don’t condone what my son did. I’m going to let justice play out… I just wish I could’ve been there. Hopefully one day I can meet Syko Stu and shake his hand. I hope he can forgive me, as a… pic.twitter.com/epvObpqf9y
Stu suffered serious injuries and remains hospitalized following the incident, which is currently under investigation by the LAPD. A GoFundMe has since been launched to help cover Stu’s medical expenses.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including the latest on the Syko Stu/Raja Jackson incident and where everything stands today, RAW from Monday night, fans singing at events, Becky Lynch’s promo on Ozzy, and more. A packed show as always so check it out~!
After saying that he wanted to help out Syko Stu in the wake of Raja Jackson’s attack, YouTuber Mr. Beast has followed through with a big donation.
Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) made a $10,000 donation today to a GoFundMe campaign to help Stu, whose real name is Stuart Smith. The campaign has raised more than $90,000 so far with the money going toward medical expenses, recovery support, and helping Stu with the loss of income he’s going to experience during his recovery.
The attack happened on Saturday at a show for KnokX Pro Wrestling in Los Angeles, with the promotion calling it a planned spot that turned into a “selfish, irresponsible act of violence.” Raja Jackson, the person who attacked Stu, is the son of UFC legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
With the incident making international news, it caught the attention of Mr. Beast, who has the most-subscribed to channel on YouTube with more than 420 million subs on his main channel alone.
“Dang man, this hurts to see. Especially because I read he was a veteran that used wrestling as an outlet to get over ptsd,” Mr. Beast tweeted earlier this week. “Genuinely, if anyone connected to him knows of a way I can help please reach out. If his kid is a fan or I can help with hospital bills idk but I’ll help.”
Stu’s GoFundMe has also received a $2,500 donation from Chris Jericho and a $1,000 donation from Swerve Strickland. Rusev, Ariya Daivari, and NBA player Kristaps Porzingis are among the other donors.
In an update last night, Stu’s brother Andrew Smith said Stu is “currently conscious and able to talk but will have a difficult recovery ahead.” He noted that Stu appreciates all of the love and support he’s received.
Mark Henry says Syko Stu shares some of the blame for the incident at a KnokX Pro event on Saturday that left him with serious injuries.
Stu was injured after being knocked unconscious by a slam and then repeatedly punched by Raja Jackson, son of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. As of the latest update, Stu is awake and able to remember some of what happened but remains in critical care.
Henry spoke with TMZ about the incident, saying Stu should not have agitated Jackson by hitting him with a beer can before the show.
“You’ve got to be careful, one, who you’re messing with,” Henry said. “And, two, what kind of example are you as a veteran for inciting a riot with a kid?”
Henry was referring to a pre-show altercation where Stu, believing Jackson was a wrestler, hit him with a worked beer can shot to the head. Another video shows Jackson later accepting Stu’s apology.
“If indeed what I saw was what I saw, which is people before the show, during the day time, drinking and intoxicated or partially intoxicated,” Henry continued. “And 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.”
As of this writing, the GoFundMe page for Stu has raised over $73,000. Donors include Chris Jericho, Rusev, Ariya Daivari, Cezar Bononi, and others.
Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor return with tons to talk about, mainly the situation with Raja Jackson and the assault on Syko Stu, and what matches you should watch from a very busy weekend. A PACKED show, so check it out~!
Mr. Beast — the most popular YouTuber in the world — is offering to help indie wrestler Syko Stu after the horrifying incident that happened over the weekend.
Stu (Stuart Smith) is recovering after being legitimately attacked by Raja Jackson — the son of UFC legend Rampage Jackson — at a show for KnokX Pro Wrestling in Los Angeles on Saturday. LAPD is now investigating the incident, which KnokX Pro said originally was supposed to be a planned spot that turned into a “selfish, irresponsible act of violence.”
“Dang man, this hurts to see. Especially because I read he was a veteran that used wrestling as an outlet to get over ptsd,” Mr. Beast tweeted. “Genuinely, if anyone connected to him knows of a way I can help please reach out. If his kid is a fan or I can help with hospital bills idk but I’ll help.”
Mr. Beast has 425 million subscribers on YouTube and is known for his contests and charitable endeavors. He also has a competition reality show on Amazon Prime Video called “Beast Games.”
In a Facebook post last night, Stu’s brother Andrew said Stu is in stable but critical care. Andrew thanked everyone for their prayers and asked that everyone continue to keep Stu in their thoughts.
Rampage Jackson issued a statement on the incident yesterday, saying he’s concerned for everyone involved and does not condone his son’s actions.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the horrible situation involving the son of Rampage Jackson this weekend, Forbidden Door rundown and analysis, NXT Heatwave, streaming services update, Arena Mexico, Stardom and Rev Pro results, and tons more. A packed show, so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Jake Milliman in hospice care, Raja Jackson incident, Abraham Washington hospitalized 12:10: AEW Forbidden Door recap, notes on UK & Australia returns 1:04:22: WWE NXT Heatwave notes 1:11:34: ESPN looking to buy UFC Fight Pass 1:17:07: Arena Mexico, Stardom Grand Prix, RevPro weekend notes
*The most detailed coverage of the WWE’s deal with ESPN starting early, why the different moves were made by all sides, the costs, more details on Wrestlepalooza, the embarrassment to sports journalism that ESPN has been and emphasized this week, how WWE benefits and doesn’t from the changes,and more. *Will Ospreay, his neck issues, comparisons with other major stars and their serious problems, and his future. *More questions regarding the death of Hulk Hogan. *A look at Forbidden Door and the card, AEW injury rate ,NXT Heatwave, WWE Clash in Paris, France attendance record and more. *Full coverage of TripleMania, lots of behind the scenes stuff, why the next show is where it is and when it is, what Nick Khan told AAA talent, records set and a record claimed that was so far from accurate, actual viewer numbers for each match and more. *A look at The G-1 Climax tournament, the booking, the business, Konosuke Takeshita, new record set and upcoming book New Japan bouts. *Real attendance figures for WrestleMania in Las Vegas and stats on who traveled for the show vs. who lived in Las Vegas and bought tickets, *Full coverage of UFC 319, business, Chimaev and his future. *Dragon Gate’s Dangerous Gate 2025 show *The most detailed look at the ratings for all pro wrestling and MMA shows this past week, including weekly standings, nightly standings, head-to-head shows, segment numbers and more notes. *Details of another big CMLL week *Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update *Kents vs. Marufuji *Women’s legends show packs Korakuen Hall *Cauliflower Alley Club awards *Man who claims to have saved Scott Steiner’s life. *Wrestler charged with murdering a neighbor in a brawl *Sami Callihan retires *Lots of thoughts on Chris Jerich as a free agent *Tony Khan media call *Unionizing wrestlers *Ticket advances for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows. *Dana White talks Jon Jones *Sean Strickland suspended. *PFL crowns new world champions. *The farce that is Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis. *Gable Steveson’s MMA debut. *BJ Penn back in court. *Time changes for a lot of the WWE TV shows over the next month. *High level athletes being recruited by WWE. *Rhodes talks about leaving AEW. *Bronson Reed talks about his injury.
— Garrett Gonzales and I did our Friday show talking about the WWE’s deal with ESPN as well as new deals ESPN is looking at with WWE and UFC, Chris Jericho, Forbidden Door, Will Ospreay and injuries, and a lot more. Bryan and I will be up later tonight covering Forbidden Door NXT, and the rest of the weekend news.
— Perhaps the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring took place last night at the Knokx Pro show in Sun Valley, CA. This is the wrestling school that is being run by Solofa Fatu (Rikishi), the father of Jimmy & Jey Uso. Raja Jackson,the son of Rampage Jackson, was at the show and wrestler Syko Stu (Stu Smith) hit him with a beer can, which he didn’t react to at all and others told Smith Jackson was not a worker. Still, they all talked things out and set up a spot later in the card (all of this was being filmed) where Jackson would do a run-in and slam Stu. He did but followed up throwing 21 all out punches from the mount, probably 20 after Smith had been knocked out. Smith is back home but it looked terribly scary. Los Angeles police are investigating. Smith apologized and they shook hands and the person running the show thought it would be cool to do a run-in spot since the beer can spot was taped.
The slam was planned but then Jackson, a trained MMA fighter, just unleashed on Stu with punches. Jackson will likely be in a lot of trouble because he was filming himself and even after the two shook hands, he was on camera saying after the slam he’s going to hit Smith as hard as he can, over and over, until they pull him off.
— Vince McMahon turns 80 tomorrow. He had a birthday party last night at Gotham Hall in New York. Among those attending were John Cena, Undertaker, Glenn “Kane” Jacobs, Michelle McCool, Sgt. Slaughter, Gerald Brisco, Shane McMahon, Sheamus, Bruce Prichard, John Layfield and Ron Killings.
— If the 18,988 figure for Forbidden Door attendance today is accurate, that would not only have set the O2 Arena attendance mark, breaking the 2023 Money in the Bank record, but would have been the largest attendance for an arena pro wrestling show in the history of the U.K. The largest was 18,514 in Manchester for an April 4, 1998 WWE show with a double main event of Undertaker vs. Kane and HHH vs. Steve Austin.
— After the PPV was over, they tended to Will Ospreay and carried him out on a stretcher. Many cable systems shut off before the angle had taken place.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on Forbidden Door and NXT Heatwave, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
— We’ve had a ton of recommendations when it comes to great matches this weekend. At the Friday Arena Mexico show, very strong last three matches with a great main event of Mistico & Neon & Titan vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr., plus TJP & Templario defending the New Japan Strong tag titles against Villano III Jr. & El Hijo del Villano III, Mercedes one vs. Emersyn Jayne, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jay Joshua, Leon Slater vs. Michael Oku, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Zozaya, as well as Momo Watanabe vs. AZM in the finals of the Five Star Grand Prix and Ishii vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Young Bucks vs. Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly from Collision.
— WWE results from yesterday’s show in Liverpool, UK:
Iyo Sky b Roxanne Perez
Damien Priest b Aleister Black clean
Lyra Valkyria b Bayley clean. Both worked as faces
Sami Zayn & Jimmy Uso & Jacob Fatu b Solo Sokoa & JC Mateo & Tonga Loa. Fatu was barely in.
Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker b War Raiders. Breakker was shaking hands with the fans like a face but Reed was not.
Tiffany Stratton won a three-way over Jade Cargill and Nia Jax to keep the women’s title when she pinned Jax
CM Punk & LA Knight & Penta b Finn Balor & Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh. The main event had been advertised as Dom vs. Punk for the IC title, but they did this instead. Punk pinned Dom after the GTS. Said to be the best match by far with Punk & Knight getting the biggest reactions. They sang Happy Birthday to Jimmy after the match. The Usos both turned 40 the day before. (thanks to Jack Randles)
— We’re looking for reports from today’s WWE house show in Newcastle, UK, results,. finishes and highlights to [email protected]
— Jake “The Milkman”Milliman, a cult favorite AWA enhancement wrestler of the 1980s, has entered hospice care according to Mick Karch. He was always a popular enhancement guy until getting a cult push as an unlikely star during the dying days of the company. He was a guy who in the Midwest in the early 80s when AWA was a television institution, everyone knew him.
— Not much as far as trends. Raja Jackson was at 500,000. Forbidden Door was 20,000 earlier today while the UFC show yesterday was at 10,000.
— AEW announcing 12/13 and 12/17 shows for Collision in Cardiff, Wales and Dynamite in Manchester at Co-op live would in theory based on the dates be part of the Continental Classic tournament.
— The PFL tournament matches on Thursday night on ESPN were helped by a strong Little league World Series lead-in and the show did 356,000 viewers and 0.08 in 18-49, its best numbers of the year. The game that preceded it did 1,575,000 viewers and 0.21. In the time slot it was behind the NFL post-game show on the NFL Network and Impractical Jokers on TBS for third place in the time slot.
— Brian Jossie, who was a manager in WWE as Abraham Washington, underwent surgery for a torn intestine. During surgery he aspirated which causes fluid to go into his lungs and was put in an induced coma and on life support. He did fully recover and was able to return home on Thursday after a month in the hospital.
— Josh Emmett vs. Yousseff Zalal has been added to the 10/4 UFC 320 PPV show in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.
— A&E has WWE programming tonight with WWE’s Greatest Moments on Tag teams of the 90s at 9 p.m., Mic Drops of the 90s at 9:30 p.m. and LFG at 10 p.m.
— Undertaker was at today’s PBR event while Kevin Owens was at yesterday’s NASCAR event.
— Nyla Rose won the Pro Wrestling Eve title last night in London. She will return to defend against Rhio on 11/7 and Willow Nightingale is also on that show in her Eve debut.
— Dana White has announced Fight Pass would free for a month. This announcement came just as ESPN was reported as being interested in buying Fight Pass from UFC to give them MMA programming after UFC moves to Paramount.
The LAPD is investigating an attack that took place during an independent wrestling event on Saturday that left a wrestler hospitalized.
According to TMZ, cops were called to the KnokX Pro event that took place near Los Angeles and took a police report after Raja Jackson, MMA fighter and son of Rampage Jackson, assaulted a wrestler in a planned angle that turned into a violent assault. As of now, the incident is being investigated.
During the event, which was livestreamed on Kick, Syko Stu (Stuart Smith) was taken down by Jackson. This appeared to knock out Stu cold. Despite this, Jackson continued to pummel and bloody Stu with punch after unprotected punch until others were able to pull him off.
Douglas Malo, a wrestler who attempted to intervene during the assault told USA Today that Smith was awake and talking on Sunday but had broken bones in his face and lost “a lot of teeth.”
“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.'”
KnokX Pro released a statement following the incident saying “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.”
Rampage also released a statement on social media, writing that he doesn’t condone his son’s actions at all and apologizing on his behalf, Raja had no business being in the ring due to suffering a concussion from sparring days prior to the angle.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has released a statement regarding an incident involving his son, Raja, at a Knox Pro event in Los Angeles on Saturday.
In what is believed to have originally been a planned spot, Raja Jackson left the crowd and entered the ring during the event and attacked wrestler Syko Stu. Raja picked up Stu and slammed him to the mat, knocking him out. Stu was not moving as Raja hit him repeatedly in the face with punches until several wrestlers subdued him. Stu was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Fightful has since reported that Raja entering the ring to attack Stu was planned, but Stu was legitimately knocked out and unable to defend himself.
“Stu was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. We are working to find out more and have Stu in our thoughts,”wrote Sean Ross Sapp.
We’ve opted not to include a link to footage of the incident, but videos are circulating online. There is also another video circulating that shows an incident before the event involving Stu hitting Raja with a beer can. It’s not clear what led to that interaction. Stu is later seen apologizing to Raja for it, and Raja appeared to accept the apology.
Rampage Jackson released a statement regarding the incident, mentioning that he’s been told Stu is now “awake and stable.”
“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. Raja was unexpectedly hit in the side of the head by him moments before Smith’s match, Raja was told that he could get his “payback”in the ring,i thought it was apart of the show. It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong. Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business 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. As a father, im deeply concerned with his health AND the well being of Mr. Smith. That being said I’m very upset that any of this happened,but my main concern now is that Mr. Smith will make a speedy recovery.I apologize on his behalf and to KICK for the situation.“
The Knox Pro event was livestreamed on Kick. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
Rusev has since released a statement as well, noting that he has trained with Stu for 15 years.
“I’ve known and trained with @SykoStu for 15 years. He is a former US Army veteran and amazing guy. There are no excuses for what happened in that ring. Praying for strong Kick out.”
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. Raja was unexpectedly hit in the side of the head by him moments before Smith’s match, Raja was told that he could get his “payback”in…
Based on what I've heard, the spot with Raja Jackson at Knokx Pro Wrestling was planned. However, Raja Jackson knocked the person out — ring name Syko Stu– and followed up with a lot of heavy punches to Syko Stu, which were not planned to do that kind of damage.
Stu was…
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 24, 2025
I’ve known and trained with @SykoStu for 15 years. He is a former US Army veteran and amazing guy. There are no excuses for what happened in that ring. Praying for strong Kick out.
