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AJ Mana, one of the talents involved in the Raja Jackson incident at the Knokx Pro event over the weekend, spoke out for the first time beyond a Facebook statement while appearing on the F Y’all Podcast last night, which you can listen to in its entirety at the embedded link below (Note: NSFW due to extreme language) -
During the interview, Mana stated that he was not the promoter and was not in creative control of the show but was a talent and did what was asked of him. He said that in the live Kick stream on Raja Jackson's account that lasted well over an hour-plus, Mana only appeared for eight minutes but is taking the blame for the incident. He claimed he's been scapegoated, that his life has been ruined and that this has killed his passion for professional wrestling. He said his real life has been ruined by the situation.
Mana denied that he set up Jackson to attack Stuart "Syko Stu" Smith, referring to Smith as "his brother" multiple times and that they each share the same tattoo from a ranch they both worked at. He noted Smith was a "real cowboy."
Mana stated that Jackson came to the show as his VIP guest and that even though he had placed Jackson on the guest list, he still had to go and pay for Jackson to enter when he arrived, as his name wasn't on the list. He said Jackson was there for a collaboration to help the company as Jackson would stream live from their event on his KICK account and get Knokx attention. He said Jackson was there on business as part of a cross-collaborative agreement but not to appear on the show. Jackson didn't come to be part of the show itself.
Once Jackson was brought backstage, Smith hit Jackson with a full can of beer, which AJ stated was not a prop.
"Raja recognized some of the talent because Rajah has been following my career since I f**king started in professional wrestling," Mana said. "You know why? Because it was Raja, it was Pops here. It was my Uncs. It was Rampage that pulled up to my very first f**king wrestling match six years ago. So there [were] certain talent there in the locker room. Raja's, 'oh sh**. You're this. You're such and such. Oh sh**. You're such and such.' Then up walked someone [Smith]. 'Don't worry about them. You know who I am.' 'Oh, no, I don't know who you are.' 'You should. I'm such and such.' 'I don't know who the f**k that is.' Need I say more? That wasn't a work. That wasn't a f**ing storyline. That was a f**king shoot. For those that are offended at the fact that I just told the truth, f**k you, because now my f**king life is ruined over your lives. So f**k you....I got a call from my f**king job. 'We saw the TMZ video. You're an accessory to an attempted murder. We gotta let you go.' I can't wrestle anymore."
Mana questioned why alcohol was allowed backstage and admitted that he himself had taken part in drinking in the locker room before shows in the past, but acknowledged it shouldn't be happening. He stated that Knokx Pro promoter (Reno Anoaʻi aka Black Pearl, who Mana did not name but acknowledged was who he was speaking about later in the conversation) decided to spin what happened into a story on the show, allegedly to avoid any liability for Jackson being hit backstage. He said what happened backstage was not an angle and was a legitimate incident with Smith striking Jackson. He said the promotion turned it into a worked-shoot after the legit incident backstage.
Mana commented, "See in the video where the promoter goes. 'Whoa, You know what? We're so sorry.'And, they're trying to work. They're trying to work this sh** out. Raja, I'm so sorry that happened to you. 'Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Look. I know you're hot. I know you're hot. Just calm down. We're gonna work this out.' What they were really saying was, we don't want a lawsuit. We don't want a lawsuit. So we need an alibi, and we need an alibi quick because a fan just got assaulted. We need an alibi now. Think quickly. Think quickly....We need an alibi. What's the alibi? F**k? What's the alibi? Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were a worker."
Mana stated that he instructed, during a vignette (since they were streaming) for Jackson to give Smith a "receipt" meaning to hit one punch with force, which would be normal in pro wrestling if one gets hit with a hard shot, they would hit one back to even things out. Mana denied that he ever told Jackson to do anything beyond that, but that others allegedly told Jackson to go further.
"Like I said, the tape never stopped running," said Mana. "Since this is already on film, let's go ahead and use it. Let's make it a part of the show. How are we going to do that? I'll give you a chance to go in on, on during his match and you get your f**king get your lick back. You see I said receipt? I didn't say lick back. I said receipt....That's all the f**k I told Raja to do. The only thing I told Raja to do was give him a f***ing receipt, because that's what the promoter wanted to do to f**king be done. The promoter sent me away with Raja to work out the details, watch the video. I didn't tell him to go beat that man. One punch....you've seen the clip where it was live streaming, and he said that they didn't tell me to pull punches or they didn't tell me. They didn't, tell me they pulled him aside after we hashed everything out. They pulled him aside, by the way, that video where I'm telling them that I'm telling Raja to f**king hit homeboy. That was a part of the f**king buildup to what was about to happen later on in the f**king show. Just so you know. Somebody pulled him aside after and then says to him, and you can f***ing get this validated as well, pulled him aside, some f**king jabroni from the f**king goddamn bullsh** production team comes up to him and says, ;No. Don't just throw one punch. F**king slam him and keep hitting him until we come in there and pull you off. Now, who the f**k set that up? Guess where I was? Nowhere in the f**king building. You know why? Because I was getting ready for my match. I just...I had a match. I was f**king getting f**king dressed out, getting ready to f**king hit the road for another f**king gig. So I'm...I was out there. I had nothing to do with the show. From that point on when my sh** was done, I was out."
Mana said others told Raja to do more, insisting that all he ever did was, in character, tell Raja to get a receipt for being hit with the beer can.
"You saw everything in the video. That camera never stopped rolling. That camera was on me the entire time to protect me and to protect Raja to prevent bullshit speculation. I took part in the f**king segment as this was a vignette. Unbeknownst to you motherf**kers that are saying that I put a hit out on him. You didn't know that was a part of the f***ing storyline, did you?"
Mana claimed he's being accused of being accessory to murder.
On Jackson's actions, Mana said he cannot speak for Raja and made it clear he was not responsible for what happened, even if Jackson was there as his guest.
"I am not responsible for what another grown ass man decides to do, Mana said. "I'm not. If I have a brother who decides to break into someone else's house and sh** in their kitchen sink, is that my responsibility? That would be theirs. Although there is a connection, their actions are not mine. Their actions, I do not pay for it. Again, I don't condone it, but I'm not liable."
Mama reiterated, "I am not the promoter. I carried out orders. That's all. I was given a script in which to work out and implement into the show, and then later pulled from that segment. It's not my fault. I made peace in this f**king puzzle. Again, I'm not the promoter. I was carrying out the order of the promoter that wanted to implement an individual into the show. I'm not Raja's coach...I got a coach. I ain't a coach. The only thing I coach is children and I can't do that no more."
Mana said that while there are edited versions of the events of the evening out there, he has the original footage and is ready to file a counter-suit if anyone comes after him legally.
Mana said he went to the hospital that night to check on Smith and said,"...the only reason I didn't stay is because some of the other guys that were from Knokx Pro were already placing the blame on me."
He said he apologized for the incident happening and had no problem apologizing.
"There's nothing that I did wrong, but I apologized. Just this is a f**king work that went totally off the rails."
Mana insisted he had no personal issue with Smith, commenting, "I don't have beef with f**king Stu, and now you're making me say [I had] beef [with] Stu that day. I don't have beef with him. That's my brother. He's another cowboy outside of wrestling. I'm closer to him outside of wrestling than I am in wrestling because in wrestling we're working characters. Outside of wrestling, we're living it up on the f**king ranch. Stop trying to stir bulls**t up. That ain't what happened. There was no beef between me and Stu. That was between him and Raja."
Mana claimed he worked for Knokx Pro for "six years with no pay."
On the incident, Mana said, "That wasn't supposed to happen. [Raja] was there for business when he hit him in the head with the can. That was out of sheer anger. Do I have to...I have to get back to why there was a beer can in the first place. Are we not putting two and two together? I don't want to talk sh** because my brother's in the f**king hospital, but let's call a spade. Don't drink beer and liquor in the f**king locker room. Get lit and twisted before a f**ing performance in which you are now a liability not only to yourself, but to anybody you're in the f**king ring with. Let's call a spade. No more drinking, especially on a live f**king production."
Mana made it clear he was gone from the promotion and had lost his real job as part of the fallout.
The entire conversation is available at the above link.
WWE has severed their WWE ID accreditation and affiliation with Knokx Pro coming out of the incident.
Stuart "Syko Stu" Smith remains hospitalized. To contribute, click here.
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