Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak stunned his live audience and television viewers when he engaged in a wrestling hold with one of the contestants on his weekday show.
During the taping, a contestant by the name of Fred revealed he was, among other things, a professional wrestler. This tidbit came in handy after Fred won every puzzle thrown at him and the two other poor souls, who left empty-handed, and even cruised to a sweet $40,000 victory in the final round. Fred wound up winning over $75,000 for his efforts.
Sajak first asked the other two contestants after time ran out if they wanted him to “body slam” Fred for his complete domination. They said yes, and then once Fred won the bonus round, the host let him hug his father before wrapping him up in a confusing hold. While the gist is obvious enough – he was having fun in the moment – it was confusing to plenty of other folks.
Take a look a the recap of the show and the final moments leading up to the bizarre move.
Fox News summed up some of the online commentaries, writing:
“Not only another Perfect Game, but another showdown with Pat vs. another contestant!”
Another fan questioned, “What was with Pat at the end?”
“Don’t fall Pat,” one comment read.
Others seemed alarmed by the game show host’s wrestling moves, “I would never wrestle a contestant like Sajak was doing if I was host of Wheel of Fortune I do handshakes literally.”
Again, while it seems obvious what was happening, with Sajak simply having fun at the moment with a big winner based on previous conversations, it just doesn’t feel like the risk is worth the reward. We’ve seen professional athletes injure themselves after celebrating big scores. No one needs to tell Pat he’s not in the same physical shape as these players – or as young. So there’s that.
There are also the legal ramifications of something going wrong. Let’s be real if Sajak hurt himself, he only has himself to blame, but if he had hurt the other guy then that $75,000 take-home prize would look like a kid’s $5-per-week allowance.
It’s painful to acknowledge what ambulance chasing in 2023 has gotten us to. If this same episode had played out just a few years ago, no one would bat an eye. Before social media existed, unless you were tuned into basic cable to watch live this moment would have ended almost as soon as it began.
For better or worse, we do live in 2023, and we do live in a hyper-litigative country, and these things matter now. And Sajak is definitely not getting younger.
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