“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak appeared to get playfully physical with a contestant on Tuesday’s show, and fans took to social media to ask what in the world was going on.
During the popular game show, one contestant named Fred revealed he was a professional wrestler. He admitted that he wrestles strictly “for the fun” because he got paid “very little,” Fox News reported.
In the clip shared on social media by the game show, Fred nailed one puzzle after another before making it to the final round. The 76-year-old Sajak then asked the other players if he should “body slam” Fred.
“Just because he’s a professional wrestler… you want me to body slam him for you?” Sajak asked the other contestants, who responded, “yes.”
“I can do that for you,” he replied.
However, it wasn’t until Fred made it to the Bonus Round that things took a bizarre turn.
🚨 PERFECT GAME ALERT 🚨
You can throw away your broom, Fred already swept everything up pic.twitter.com/XxStqdwMjz
— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) March 21, 2023
After Fred successfully solves the final puzzle and wins $75,800, Sajak returns to the screen and appears to jokingly perform a wrestling move on him.
Viewers see Sajak take Fred’s arm behind his back and grab the contestant’s face with his other hand. It appeared he was mimicking an attempt to put the wrestler in a headlock.
Social media users who watched the show asked what Sajak was doing.
“What was with Pat at the end?” one account posted.
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Another added, “I would never wrestle a contestant like Sajak was doing if I was host of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ I do handshakes literally.”
“Not only another Perfect Game, but another showdown with Pat vs. another contestant!” one account tweeted, while another noted that the host looked like he was the one that was going to take a fall in the tussle, “Don’t fall Pat.”
The images from the tackle have even become fodder for a meme, BroBible.com noted.
Hi I'm Pat Sajak and welcome to the Wheel of Pain pic.twitter.com/z6RJvdd94Z
— Volatile (@FemboyChaos) March 22, 2023
Others were quick to note that while the image floating around on social media looked terrible, what happened on the show was just entertainment.
“It’s not really that bizarre if you had actually watched the show,” one user wrote. “I’m no Pat Sajak fan, but he was trying to be funny. The guy and (h)is wife are wrestlers. Joked about wrestling the entire show.”
It’s not really that bizarre if you had actually watched the show. I’m no Pat Sajak fan, but he was trying to be funny. The guy and is wife are wrestlers. Joked about wrestling the entire show. https://t.co/OqL69FijWu
— Wendy Steele (@wendysteele55) March 22, 2023