Raja Jackson finally made his first court appearance.
To recount, Jackson blatantly assaulted a Syko Stu on a live stream. The incident took place on August 24th at KnokX Pro Wrestling where Jackson was scheduled to do a run-in and work a spot against Stu.
The spot came about following an incident between Raja and Stu where the latter smashed a beer can over Jackson’s head. The beer can was gimmicked and Raja said himself that he wasn’t hurt from it, but he was clearly pissed about what transpired.
Stu made a mistake thinking that Raja was another wrestler, so he apologized to Raja multiple times and they agreed to come up with a spot where he could get his revenge. But Raja’s intentions were darker than that.
The MMA fighter knocked out Stu cold with a slam and recklessly punched him over 20 times, despite Stu being unconscious. That led to him finally being arrested last month. The Los Angeles Times reported that a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office confirmed that Jackson will be charged with felony battery causing bodily injury to Stuart Smith.
Raja Jackson made his first appearance in court Thursday and he pleaded not guilty for the felony battery charge and misdemeanor battery charge. Given all of the evidence that was recorded, it’s surprising that Jackson went this route, but he did nevertheless.
Should Jackson be convinced then he could serve seven years in prison. The 25-year-old will be back in court on November 24 for a preliminary hearing setting in his case.
Raja has remained silent about the matter since that unfortunate night. Rampage has been a mixed bag of emotions since the incident, but he hasn’t spoken about the case for a good while.
In terms of Syko Stu, while he’s definitely better than he was a month ago, it does sound as if he’ll never be able to wrestle again. Doug Malo spoke to TMZ Sports and explained how dire of a situation this really is.
“There’s going to be an event for Stu with Valor Pro Wrestling around November 15th, and I plan to see him there. I’m really looking forward to it because it’ll give me some closure.”
“His close friend, who I talked to and who’s organizing the event, said that Stu is done with any in-ring work. I also know about some of the things he’s been dealing with from my last conversation with his wife and friends. I don’t think getting back in the ring would ever work again.”
“I’d think it would be kind of cool if we could maybe reverse the roles—like I get beat up in the ring, and he comes out with his music, stands on the apron, and sends people in. You know what I mean? I think that’s as far as we could go from here.”
“But honestly, I don’t think it would be smart at this point. He took a lot of damage, and with what he was already dealing with, he wasn’t exactly a spring chicken even before the incident.”
Hopefully Stu gets better and is allowed to go back into the ring someday. We’ll keep you updated on Jackson’s story when more news comes out.