At 76 years old, Pat Sajak seems to be more fully leaning into the idea that doing wacky shit on Wheel of Fortune is as big of an attention-grabber as contestants’ hilariously dim-witted guesses and backlash-sparking moments. I know I may forever have trouble falling asleep at night, aware that the memory of Sajak tugging a Santa-helping contestant’s beard could invade at any moment. But it certainly makes watching the classic game show as interesting as can be, and the host’s comedic impulses were cherries on top of an episode that was already memorable for one player completely sweeping his competitors under the rug. I forgot to mention the wrestling bit, but that’ll be obvious soon enough.
Drama teacher, bar trivia host and professional wrestler Fred Fletcher-Jackson appeared on the March 21 episode of Wheel of Fortune, and he was a total King Lear of the Ring throughout. As seen in the impressive montage video below, he solved every single puzzle put forth in the episode, and with seeming ease. Not a whole lot of guessing going on until the final puzzle, and even that just took a few tries before bringing in another big chunk of change.
But as impressive as his big win was, the video is also worth watching to witness Sajak ramping up the wrestling energy to the point when he grapples with Fletcher-Jackson from behind ahead of the final credits. Check it out!
Seriously, Fred Fletcher-Jackson put on the clinic for how to go about putting on Wheel of Fortune clinics. It obviously looks all the more impressive when all the guesses are cut together for the video, but it was just as wowzers when watching the whole thing play out in longform. It does make me wonder, though, if a rapid-fire montage of contestants' delightfully wrong answers would also appear to be admirable just through the magic of editing. (I guess this particular erroneous-guesses clip counts as an example, but not entirely.)
And now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Wait, let me stylize that better… [Shakes spray paint can.] And now let’s talk about “The Elephant in the Room,” which is what I’m calling Pat Sajak’s wrestling move where he holds one arm behind his opponent’s back while wrapping the other around the dude’s face so that he chokes on Sajak’s cufflinks, I think. Or maybe the host was just really into getting a handful of the drama teacher's beard and didn’t know how to go about approaching it without a Santa Claus segue.
Now I think maybe the image of Vlad Sajak’s eyes staring at me from behind his latest victim is going to take over as insomnia-driving imagery. One can only hope that Vanna White also takes on these kinds of shenanigans should she ever take over as host if/when Sajak ever retires. Bring a chair into it, Vanna! Don't let the ref see!
Fred Fletcher-Jackson made it clear early on that wrestling was more a gig of passion as opposed to something he could afford to do on a full-time basis, with very little to bring in by way of finances. So he was already pleased as pulled-punch after blazing through all of the early WoF rounds, but solving that final puzzle and seeing the $40,000 grand prize truly brought him to an emotional place, with his father also there to celebrate. And not even Pat Sajak hilariously trying to manhandle him could take that happiness away.
Interestingly enough, this is the second episode in the past four months that featured a Wheel of Fortune contestant completely crushing it with every single puzzle. Is this going to be a new trend now, like Jeopardy!'s run of record-breaking competitors? Or will the trend actually continue being Pat Sajak goofing around more? Can it be both?
