Raja Jackson has pleaded not guilty.
The son of former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson appeared in court Thursday after being charged with a felony and a misdemeanor for assaulting a professional wrestler at an event in Los Angeles in August. Mr. Jackson was arrested and released on $50,000 bail in September, but returned to court after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office moved forward with criminal charges against him.
Based on the charges, Jackson could face up to seven years in prison if convicted, including a three-year reduction for allegedly inflicting “serious bodily harm” on Stuart Smith, also known as Psycho Stu.
The 25-year-old is scheduled to appear in court again on November 24th for a preliminary hearing in his case.
Psycho Stu likely quit wrestling after being attacked by Raja Jackson
Jackson, who was attending the Knox Pro event in Los Angeles, planned to go off script and intervene in the match. Jackson slid into the ring, lifted Smith into the air and slammed him hard to the mat. Jackson then fired more than 20 unresisted punches, many of which landed after Smith was already unconscious.
Smith was admitted to a local hospital and spent several days in the ICU. His family later revealed that the assault left him with trauma to both his upper and lower jaw, lacerations to his upper lip, and a fracture to his maxilla, resulting in the loss of several teeth.
Douglas Maro, one of the men who helped pull Jackson from Smith’s body during the attack, revealed to TMZ that his friend’s professional wrestling career likely ended because of the assault.
“I don’t think that’s wise at this point,” Mallo said. “He wasn’t necessarily a spring chicken before the event.”