A staged wrestling match ends with real blows

It was supposed to be a scripted fight between a professional wrestler and a mixed martial arts fightera crowd-pleasing crossover performance intended to draw maximum online fans with a dramatic storyline.

- BY SALVADOR HERNANDEZ

"The whole situation is just god-awful. There's no way through that. Everybody is hurting.' - DOUGLAS MALO, a wrestler who pulled Raja Jackson off Stuart Smith

But the battle quickly turned ugly and violent as shocked spectators watched MMA fighter Raja Jackson slam opponent Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith to the mat and unleash a torrent of blows to the motionless wrestler’s head.

As multiple wrestlers rushed to subdue Jackson, Smith lay bleeding and convulsing on the canvas.

Now, as the Los Angeles Police Department investigates the Aug. 23 incident as a case of suspected felony battery, detectives and event organizers are trying to determine how a routine wrestling match could go so horribly wrong.

In a sport that derives its popularity by blurring the line between fiction and reality, professional wrestlers are encouraged to stay in character whenever they are in the public eye — an ethos known as “kayfabe.” But recorded images of the incident and interviews with witnesses suggest this tacit agreement between competitors was tragically absent during the Sun Valley bout.

Some suggest the bloody scene at KnokX Pro

Wrestling Academy was instigated backstage, and was the result of a fateful clash between two very different sporting cultures.

Professional wrestlers, they say, are accustomed to performing predetermined matches that blend entertainment and athleticism. MMA fighters, however, compete in an actual combat sport where matches are decided on the basis of strength and technique, not a theatrical script.

Jackson did not respond to multiple inquiries from The Times about the incident.