Pat Sajak had fans guessing a lot more than just the answer to a word puzzle when he put a wrestling move on a Wheel of Fortune player! The iconic gameshow host went viral on Wednesday for his physical prowess with Fred Jackson, a contestant who happened to play a perfect Wheel of Fortune game, which meant Fred solved every puzzle on the episode! But Pat was more concerned with Fred’s wrestling history than he was the remarkable performance, which led to the post-puzzle grapple (below)!
In case you missed it, Fred introduced himself on the show as a drama teacher, bar trivia host and a professional wrestler. Despite being paid “very little” for “participating” in the sport, Fred told Pat that he did it for fun. So, when Fred ended up dominating the game, with no prize money left for the other two contestants, Pat joked that Fred was a “brute” and asked them, “Just because he’s a professional wrestler, you want me to body slam him for you?” The remaining contestants answered in the positive, setting up Pat to make his wrestling move.
And it came at the very end of the episode! As soon as Fred solved the final puzzle for an additional $40,000 — making his grand total $75,800 — he hugged his father on stage. Pat then saw his opportunity to have a little fun with Fred. He snuck up behind Fred and put him in a choke hold. Fred, fully in on the joke, pretended to be in the midst of a wrestling match, pained look on his face and all! It was just Pat Sajak being Pat Sajak.
The viral clip comes after Pat made headlines for teasing his retirement after hosting Wheel of Fortune for over 40 years. Speaking with ET last month, he explained, “We’re getting near the end. It’s been a long [time]. We’re not going to do this for another 40 years. The end is near.” He added, “It’s an honor to have been in people’s living rooms for that long. People were out there welcoming us. We’re happy and proud.”