Los Angeles – Stuart Smith, a professional wrestler who goes by the name “Syko Stu” in the ring, is awake and on the road to recovery after being attacked in a surprising and violent way during a KnokX Pro Wrestling event on August 23. A picture of Stuart awake in his hospital bed has gone viral, giving admirers hope following the scary event.
Andrew Smith, Stuart’s brother, posted an update on Facebook saying that Syko Stu “remembers some of what happened” and is still resting. He said that Stuart is awake and able to converse, but that the rehabilitation will be hard and take a long time because of the serious head injuries.
Raja Jackson, the son of former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, was the one who attacked. Footage from the live-streamed event shows Raja rushing into the ring and beating Syko Stu so badly that he passed out. The fact that the attack was not planned and involves hitting a still Syko Stu in the skull over and over again has made people in the professional wrestling industry and on social media very angry.
KnokX Pro Wrestling called the attack a “selfish, irresponsible act of violence” in a statement. Raja Jackson’s father, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, has also said in public that he doesn’t agree with what his son did. He said the incident was “a work that went wrong” and that his son, an MMA fighter, had just had a concussion and shouldn’t have been in the ring.
Contessa Patterson, Syko Stu’s wife, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for his growing medical expenditures and lost income. Fans and friends from all over the world have already donated more than $160,000 to the cause. The page for donations says that Stuart is a veteran of the U.S. Army and that he utilized professional wrestling as a “therapeutic outlet to cope with PTSD.” It also says that the incident has hurt him physically and messed up his career.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has also said that it is looking into the attack. Even though many people have called for Raja Jackson’s arrest, no charges have been made public yet. This has made fans and the wrestling world even more angry and upset. The inquiry is still going on, and the event has brought to light the major safety issues in professional wrestling when the border between performance and reality is crossed in a brutal way.