The Raja Jackson Incident And Gatekeeping In Wrestling

The Raja Jackson incident has sparked a lot of debate in the pro wrestling bubble with most people echoing the same sentiment: it was an attempted murder of a wrestler during a show and it should have never happened. However, as with most controversial issues, there are a few dissenting voices: the Rob Van Dams and Mark Henrys of the world are, thankfully, in the minority though.

At the same time, people like Stevie Richards and Jim Cornette have gone into great length about what went wrong and talked about all aspects of the case, from the initial backstage incident to the attempted murder in the ring. However, neither have come straight out with presenting a solution (albeit both implied it). The person that came closest to voicing that solution outright was Swerve Strickland.

It's time to start gatekeeping Wrestling again

— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) August 25, 2025

The key question then is this: Who should be kept out of wrestling?

There is no sense in trying to gatekeep wrestling from potential fans. For one thing, there is no way to actually vet who watches and follows pro wrestling. While you can ban fans with a proven history of problematic behavior from attending shows, this card can only be played in extreme and verified cases, including anybody who assaults or even attempts to assault a wrestler (or other fans) during a show. Raja Jackson clearly fits that description.

But there is a more crucial aspect that hasn’t been addressed for a long time.

Professional wrestling, as a business, is not for everyone. Much like any other profession or sport, you have to have a knack for it and understand its intricacies. The ‘death of kayfabe’ is often mentioned in discussions of storylines and some wrestler’s social media presence, but there is still a version of it beyond the visible; a code of conduct that governs the show and the locker room.

Raja Jackson is the son of former MMA-fighter Rampage Jackson. For a company the scale of Knokx Pro Wrestling, that may qualify him as a celebrity. Celebrities have been brought backstage at wrestling events as special guests for decades now. If AJ Mana (or anybody else, for that matter) wants to bring Raja backstage – provided its been cleared by those in charge – there’s no issue with that.

However, trying to ‘work’ with Raja by smashing an empty beer can over his head in the locker room, as Syko Stu did, is not acceptable. It’s not part of the show. If the goal is to incorporate Raja into the show, walk him through the angle you have in mind and then perform exactly that in front of the audience. Ideally, you also do a physical walkthrough of said angle, considering that Raja is an outsider to the business and locker room. In short: you don’t just hit a civilian – regardless of any celebrity status or association with a wrestler – with an object, even if it is ‘only’ an empty beer can.

That said, Syko Stu apologized immediately. The issue should have ended there. But there is video of AJ Mana winding Raja up, even after Jackson and Stu had seemingly resolved the issue.

This creates another problem. AJ Mana, as part of the locker room, was inciting violence against a fellow worker. In a business built on trust, this is a cardinal sin. Mana’s excuse of ‘I was working’ also falls flat. Stu had already tried to work with Raja which created the initial issue. They had smoothed the situation over. The last thing you should do in that situation is to escalate things again by trying to ‘work’ Raja again.

To top it all off, the referee in the ring during the attempted murder counted a pinfall on Stu, while Stu was choking on his own blood and teeth.

Swerve Strickland has the right idea: it is time to gatekeep wrestling again. Not from outsiders or fans, but from people who should not be participants in the first place. Who can be a wrestler? The answer shouldn’t be ‘anyone’, just like not anyone can be a pro football player, an actor, or an accountant. Talent is one thing. But you also need to understand your business in order to succeed in it.

Neither AJ Mana, Syko Stu, Raja Jackson or the referee fit that description.