By John T. Wendt, Professor Emeritus, University of St. Thomas
Raja Jackson is the 25-year-old son of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the former UFC light heavyweight champion. Raja is a mixed martial-arts fighter. On September 19, 2025, Raja Jackson was arrested on a felony assault charge following a brutal attack on independent pro wrestler Stuart Smith, also known as “Syko Stu,” during a live KnokX Pro Wrestling event on August 24, 2025 in Los Angeles.[1]
KnokX Pro Wrestling is “a full-service professional wrestling entertainment & training organization…that specializes in planning and coordinating live sporting events.”[2] Featured on their website are World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) stars Rikishi, Black Pearl and Lucha Libra. Jr. Rikishi Fatu (Rikishi) is a co-owner of KnokX and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. As the KnokX website says, “Rikishi alongside Black Pearl have dedicated their lives to teaching the ins and outs of the wrestling business to students so their knowledge can be passed on by generations to come.”[3]
On October 29, 2024, the WWE announced a new WWE Independent Development (WWE ID) program where “select wrestling schools can offer ‘enhanced developmental opportunities’ to ‘new trainees and existing talent’.”[4] WWE ID offers a different pathway for independent wrestlers who are trying to achieve their dreams of a wrestling career in the WWE. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said, “WWE ID is the latest in our efforts to identify and support the journey of up-and-coming wrestlers, in turn raising the profile of and strengthening the independent wrestling ecosystem…”[5] KnokX was one of the first WWE ID schools to earn the official WWE designation.
KnokX streamed the August 24, 2025, event live on Kick, a controversial video livestreaming platform. According to VoiceBox, Kick emerged in “2022 as an unconventional live-streaming platform, Kick operates on loose community guidelines, ‘free speech’, and a suspiciously generous compensation programme: creators are given 95% of the income they generate.”[6] Voicebox also claims that, “Plenty of the content on Kick is utterly hateful towards women and minority groups, only worsened by its blatant favouritism of troublesome characters and turning a blind eye to unacceptable behaviour in favour of clicks and views.”[7] Voicebox also advised Kick “to hide 18+ content from users browsing the site without an account.”[8] Internetmatters also noted some risks involved with Kick including close links to internet gambling, inappropriate content, and “hate speech and hateful behaviours.”[9]
The widely circulated video of the event showed Raja Jackson climbing into the ring and body-slamming Smith and proceeding to pummel the unconscious Smith with over 20 punches to the head until other wrestlers eventually separated them.[10] This was not just a show with fake punches. It was reported that Smith was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, including lacerations, trauma to both the upper and lower jaws, and a fracture to the maxilla bone resulting in the loss of several teeth.[11]
Douglas Malo was one of the primary wrestlers trying to stop Raja Jackson. Malo said, “I see the slam. I see the first punch, second punch — and by then, I’ve got people in front of me, and I just start moving. I kind of wish I would have sprung on the slam…I just went in there to stop it at first because I was in shock. I saw Stu, I saw the punches, it felt like slow motion…I think he (Raja Jackson) would have killed him…I promise you, he would have killed him.”[12]
As Raja Jackson was being escorted from the building, he continued to live stream with expletive filled remarks about Smith.[13] Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department said that they received a call from the arena reporting an attempted murder, but Raja Jackson had already been removed from the venue. Later LAPD detectives classified the attack as “felony battery.”[14]
KnokX quicky posted a statement, “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.”[15]
Rampage Jackson echoed that it was a script that “went wrong” after Smith unexpectedly hit Raja on the side of the head earlier before the match: “Raja was told that he could get his ‘payback’ in the ring…I thought it was a part 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.”[16]
On September 19, 2025, Raja Jackson was arrested on a felony assault charge[17] and facing a $50,000 bond. On “The Ariel Helwani Show,” a combat sports program, Rampage Jackson said that his son “should do a little [jail] time…Do a little community service, and go to anger management class, get some therapy.”[18]
KnokX may have to make major changes going forward. Their future with WWE appears to be in doubt. WWE may not welcome the negative publicity.[19] Reflecting on KnokX, wrestler Malo stated, “From what I heard, Rikishi is gonna overhaul everything. I absolutely love Rikishi, he is the nicest human being…he was out of town and half the things that would happen he wouldn’t approve of. He didn’t agree with how bookings were, this and that, and then he would come in and everything would be different. And then he’d be out of town and we’d be over here again.”[20]
The grey areas on the distinction between sports and sports entertainment, professional wrestling and combat sports are becoming cloudier by the day. We know from Judge Cardozo’s famous opinion in Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Co. (N.Y. 1929) 166 N.E. 173, “Volenti non fit injuria…One who takes part in such a sport accepts the dangers that inhere in it so far as they are obvious and necessary… The antics of the clown are not the paces of the cloistered cleric.” But the risks involved in a staged performance such as professional wrestling are still different from mixed martial arts combat. This assault was non-sanctioned violence with serious physical injuries and consequences.
[1] Andreas Hale, Rampage’s Son, Raja, Arrested on Assault Charge, ESPN.com (Sept. 19, 2025), https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/46313062/rampage-jackson-son-raja-arrested-assaulting-pro-wrestler.
[2] KnokX Pro Entertainment & Academy, About Us, (2025), https://knokxpro.com/WebSite/about.html.
[3] KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, About Us, (2025), https://knokxpro.com/WebSite/trainers.html.
[4] Sean Rueter, WWE Launches Development Program for Indie Wrestlers, Cageside Seats (Oct. 29, 2024), https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2024/10/29/24282648/wwe-id-new-development-program-indie-wrestlers-schools-announcement.
[5] Id. Levesque was with President Trump when the President signed an Executive Order on August 1, 2025, reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test. Levesque is also the son-in-law of the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
[6] VoiceBox, What Is Kick, And Why Is It Controversial?, (Mar. 21, 2024), https://voicebox.site/article/what-kick-and-why-it-controversial.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Internetmatters.org, Kick Streaming, Internet Matters (2025), https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/news-blogs/what-is-kick-streaming/.
[10] ESPN New Service, Video Shows Ex-UFC Star’s Son Beating Wrestler, ESPN.com (Aug. 25, 2025), https://www.espn.com/professional-wrestling/story/_/id/46071665/raja-jackson-son-ex-ufc-champ-assaulted-unconscious-wrestler.
[11] Hale, supra note 1.
[12] Drake Riggs, Douglas Malo, Wrestler Who Stopped Raja Jackson Attack on Syko Stu, Speaks out: “He Would Have Killed Him,” Yahoo Sports (Aug. 26, 2025), https://sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/article/douglas-malo-wrestler-who-stopped-raja-jackson-attack-on-syko-stu-speaks-out-he-would-have-killed-him-170132671.html.
[13] Jeff Cain, Raja Jackson’s Immediate Comments after Brutal Attack on pro Wrestler Sound like a Confession, MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos (Aug. 25, 2025), https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/raja-jacksons-immediate-comments-after-brutal-attack-on-pro-wrestler-sound-like-a-confession.
[14] Jesse Gill, Raja Jackson Investigated by LAPD after Violent Ring Attack, KTLA (Aug. 26, 2025), https://ktla.com/news/raja-jackson-investigated-by-lapd-after-violent-ring-attack/.
[15] ESPN New Service, supra note 10.
[16] Id.
[17] Hale, supra note 1.
[18] Id.
[19] Andreas Hale, WWE, UFC Merging Live Events Teams to 1 Group, ESPN.com (May 23, 2024), https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/40202547/wwe-ufc-merging-live-events-teams-single-group. The WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship have merged under the title of “TKO Live Events Strategy Team” and are planning a UFC event on the White House Law.
[20] Aidan Chacon, Rikishi’s KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy Hemorrhaging Students After Raja Jackson Incident, Wrestling On Fannation (Aug. 29, 2025), https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/rikishi-s-knokx-pro-wrestling-academy-hemorrhaging-students-after-raja-jackson-incident.
