Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak recently shocked fans when he made the bizarre decision to tackle a contestant on the show. The contestant, named Fred, is a confirmed professional wrestler among other things. And while he mostly wrestles “for the fun,” being that he’s paid “very little,” Sajak apparently brought some of that “fun” onto the show.
As you can see below, the 76-year-old longtime host of the show tackled Fred after the contestant won a series of puzzles. It was revealed that Fred won as much as $75,800 for his efforts on the show. Sajak responded with the aforementioned tackle, that he calls “a body slam,” though it comes off quite awkwardly in the end.
Pat Sajak teased that he’d tackle Fred beforehand. It was something that he asked the other contestants on the show:
“Just because he’s a professional wrestler, you want me to body-slam him for you?”
The moment culminates with Sajak attempting to place Fred in a headlock.
Here’s the Wheel of Fortune moment below where Pat Sajak took the opportunity to tackle Fred:
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It was a move that caught viewers by surprise and many of them used social media to question what they just saw. After all, it isn’t very often, if ever, that longtime host Pat Sajak made a move like that on a contestant. Of course, there’s a first time for everything, and it was no doubt worth it for Fred who got to take home more than $75,000.
BREAKING: Pat Sajak’s record streak of hosting 1,986 consecutive “Wheel of Fortune” episodes without killing a guy comes to a shocking end: pic.twitter.com/tSvriLEuXT
— NotKennyRogers (@NotKennyRogers) March 22, 2023
Pat Sajak had a little incident 🤭😆🤣😆 pic.twitter.com/N1KL0IrGdn
— Robyn Taylor (@RobTaylor551) March 22, 2023
WHY IS PAT SAJAK PUTTING THIS MAN IN A PICTURE PERFECT CROSS FACE CHICKEN WING???? pic.twitter.com/O2HlU1ySGn
— ʎǝlpǝH ɐnɥsoſ (@JoshuaHedley) March 23, 2023
Lost your mind @patsajak ? pic.twitter.com/VmuDSe3ESz
— 🛸 CAARIU 🛸 (@CAARIU) March 22, 2023
Pat Sajak has been the host of Wheel of Fortune for more than forty years. He took the spot as far back as 1981. Likewise, his co-host Vanna White joined him just one year later. The two have been working together on the show ever since. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any other Wheel of Fortune updates as we may have them.