More than a year after one of the most disturbing incidents in independent wrestling, Syko Stu is describing how severe the aftermath was, and says his recovery is still ongoing.
In August last year at a KnokX Pro Wrestling event, Raja Jackson jumped the barricade during an angle and attacked Stu, then repeatedly punched him.
The punches left Stu unconscious, and other wrestlers had to pull Jackson away. Jackson streamed the segment on KICK and he was banned from the platform. He was arrested and sentenced to 90 days in jail, and was released earlier this year.
Speaking on the SOS Podcast with Matt Rosa and Neno Torres, Stu said he remembers little of the night. He recalls Jackson coming backstage filming, which isn’t normal, and a can spot, but not much after that.
I don’t remember a lot of it. I do remember Raja coming backstage, and he was filming. Usually you don’t film backstage like that. I know there was the can spot, and I don’t remember too much after that. I do remember that we did call a finish, and he was supposed to come in.
I think he was going to give me one punch because of the can spot. It’s supposed to be a wrestling punch, but if he would’ve connected with it a little more, I could’ve sold it better. I don’t think anyone expected what was going to happen to happen,” he said.
He said a finish had been called and Jackson was supposed to give him one wrestling punch because of the can spot, and that nobody expected what happened. He said he was knocked out on the slam and doesn’t remember anything until waking up in the hospital on Tuesday, when he saw other wrestlers, including Rikishi, and talked with them.
I was out on the slam. I don’t remember anything. The match went really good until that. I don’t remember anything until, I believe it was Tuesday. I woke up in the hospital. I was in and out of consciousness the whole time. I woke up on Tuesday and saw some of the wrestlers. Rikishi was there, and we were talking. I was just trying to recover,” he further added.
He described the injuries in detail. He had to relearn how to walk and couldn’t walk for a while. He suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, lost two teeth and shattered his maxilla, and said there was more he can’t remember. He was off work for a full year, and he’s still waiting on dental coverage for implants and still seeing traumatic brain injury doctors. He called it an ongoing thing.
I really had to relearn how to walk. I couldn’t walk after that for a while. I did have a severe traumatic brain injury. I lost two teeth. I shattered my maxilla. I know there’s more stuff, but I can’t remember off the top of my head. I was off work for an entire year.
With a severe traumatic brain injury, my job is a lot of computer work. Just going to doctor’s appointments. I’m still waiting for dental to come through. They’re giving implants for those. I’m still continuing with the traumatic brain injury doctors. It’s an ongoing thing,” he said.
Stu said he is physically fit enough to wrestle, but doesn’t know whether he could do it mentally.