AJ Mana has broken his silence on the chaotic Raja Jackson – Syko Stu incident at Knokx Pro, using the F Y’all Podcast to explain his side of the story. What he described was less about orchestrating a violent angle and more about being caught in the middle of a disaster that he claims destroyed both his career and his personal life.
Mana’s first point was: he wasn’t in charge. “I am not the promoter. I carried out orders, that’s all,” he said, distancing himself from accusations that he set up Raja Jackson’s attack on Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith. He emphasized that his role was as talent, not creative. “I was given a script to implement, then pulled from it. I’m not Raja’s coach. I’m not his handler. I was just doing what I was told.”
Mana insists he’s been scapegoated. “My real life has been ruined by the situation,” he explained. “I got a call from my job: ‘We saw the TMZ video. You’re an accessory to attempted murder. We gotta let you go.’ I can’t wrestle anymore. My passion’s dead.”
According to Mana, the escalation began before the show when Smith struck Raja with a beer can that was “not a prop.” From that moment on, tensions spiraled. “That wasn’t a work. That wasn’t a storyline. That was a f**ing shoot,” Mana said.
He claims the promotion, worried about liability, tried to spin the altercation into part of the show: “The promoter’s saying, ‘Raja, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Calm down, we’ll work this out.’ What they really meant was, ‘We don’t want a lawsuit. We need an alibi.’”
Mana admits he told Raja to give Smith a “receipt” – in wrestling terms, one stiff punch to even the score. “That’s all the f** I told Raja to do,” he said. But he insists he never encouraged the brutal sequence that followed. According to him, someone else backstage escalated it: “Some jabroni from production told him, ‘Don’t just throw one punch. Slam him and keep hitting him until we pull you off.’ Guess where I was? Nowhere near it. I was getting ready for my match.”
AJ Mana's excuse was he was using wrestling lingo and his comments were made in character. You talked 'in character' & used wrestling lingo to Raja Jackson who is NOT a wrestler. And you did it to feed a non-wrestler's KICK STREAM, not for KnokX. You are a fucking moron. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/nH05NKhQNY
— Anthony 'Don Tony' DeBlasi (@DonTonyD) August 25, 2025
Mana says the camera that captured the incident never stopped rolling, which he believes proves he didn’t give instructions for a beatdown. “That camera was on me to protect me and to protect Raja. People saying I put a hit out on Stu don’t realize that was part of the buildup. Not me telling him to f**king kill somebody.”
Throughout the podcast, Mana repeatedly referred to Smith as “my brother.” Both men, he said, even share the same tattoo from their time working together on a ranch. “I don’t have beef with Stu. That wasn’t between me and him – that was between him and Raja,” he stressed. He claims he even visited the hospital after the incident, though he left when others at Knokx Pro began pointing fingers at him.
Mana also questioned why alcohol was in the locker room to begin with. “Don’t drink beer and liquor before a live performance. You’re a liability to yourself and everyone you’re in the ring with,” he said. While admitting he’d personally participated in drinking before shows in the past, he now sees it as a mistake that set the stage for disaster.
The wrestler revealed he has been with Knokx Pro for 6 years, often unpaid, and feels betrayed. He insists he had nothing to do with Raja Jackson being pushed into the spotlight that night. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Raja was there for business, streaming, not to be part of the show,” Mana said.
Despite apologizing publicly, Mana maintains he did nothing wrong. “This was a work that went totally off the rails. My life’s been ruined over lies. I am not responsible for what another grown-a$$ man decides to do.”
Mana now says he has the original unedited footage and is prepared to file a countersuit if accusations continue.
Also Read: “There’s a lot of racist people giving me death threats” – Rampage Jackson
