Quinton “Rampage” Jackson says his life is being threatened in the wake of his son Raja’s attack that landed a professional wrestler in the hospital.
Since a lengthy tweet in the immediate aftermath of the incident, Jackson has gone radio-silent. However, TMZ approached Jackson at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Monday and asked him for further comment. Jackson expressed his inability to comment much on the situation, but said he has received death threats since Saturday’s violent beating.
“You know, I wish I could say something,” Jackson said. “All I can say is a lot of racist people giving me death threats and stuff like that, like I’m a puppet master, calling me a bad father. It’s uncalled for. Anything I say gets twisted anyway.”
How did things get here?
Jackson’s son, Raja, 25, attacked Stuart Smith (also known in-ring as Syko Stu) during a wrestling match at a KnokX professional wrestling event in Sun Valley, Calif. Jackson streamed the entire outing, including the lead-up and aftermath, on the streaming platform Kick.
Jackson was expected to interfere with Smith’s match as part of the show. However, after he entered the ring, Jackson hit Smith with a real slam – and approximately 20 punches to Smith’s unconscious face.
Jackson had taken exception to Smith hitting him in the head with a beer can earlier, prior to the event. Smith apologized to Jackson shortly after the beer can incident, saying he thought Jackson was a wrestler and thought they were hyping the show. The two eventually shook hands.
In the time between the handshake and the attack, Jackson fumed on live stream. He said that he planned to hit Smith “for real,” which he did repeatedly as horrified and confused onlookers watched.
Eventually, other wrestlers, including Douglas Malo, intervened as Smith coughed blood, choked on his teeth, and convulsed on the canvas.
Malo criticized the promotion’s handling of the situation in an interview Monday, during which he and a former wrestling coworker claimed KnokX discouraged its current squad of wrestlers from speaking on the incident, even to police.
What happened to Jackson and Smith?
Smith remains in the hospital with serious injuries, according to his family. A GoFundMe was launched Monday to help with his medical expenses and loss of income.
At the time of this publication, Jackson has not been arrested, though authorities say there is an investigation ongoing.
