‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Want Rule Change After Returning Champion Wins $171,000
Only fair! Wheel of Fortune fans want this one rule changed in the Champions Tournament after the current winner fails at this every game.
Chad Cabanilla, from Nicolett, Minnesota, returned on April 21 for his fourth game. He won $134,642 in three games. As part of the Spring Forward Champions Tournament, the winner from the previous night returns all April long. As long as they keep winning, they keep playing.
The flight attendant played against Angel Kelly, from Channahon, Illinois, and John Davis, from Middle Island, New York. Kelly, who cheers loudly for her son’s football games and is a breast cancer survivor, solved the first toss-up. Cabanilla put $2,000 in his bank when he solved the second toss-up.
With only two letters left to guess in the “Before & After” puzzle, Cabanilla solved “Alexander The Great Lakes.” He obtained the Wild Card and won $8,050.
Davis, a man who owns two BBQ grills, three smokers, and three griddles, obtained the Mystery Wedge with $10,000 on it. He, later however, landed on Bankrupt and had to get rid of it. Kelly solved “Sunshine on My Shoulders” for $2,000.
Cabanilla rode the Express Train for the next puzzle. He solved every letter in “Bring Noise-Canceling Headphones” for $17,000.
“Wow,” host Ryan Seacrest said. The returning champion won a trip to Aruba, which gave him a total of $34,426.
Davis finally got on the board when he solved two of the three Triple Toss-ups, giving him $4,000. Cabanilla solved the third.
Davis put $13,300 in his bank when he solved the final puzzle — “Hummus and Pita Chips.” His final total was $17,300.
Kelly went home with $2,000. Cabanilla won again with $34,426. He chose “What Are You Doing?” for his Bonus Round category.
Cabanilla brought his Wild Card with him. He was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” by Wheel of Fortune. The game show contestant rounded out his puzzle with “P,G,C,A, and M.”
The puzzle then looked like “_S_NG A PR_M_ C_ _E.” As the clock counted down, Cabanilla guessed “Using a Prime Care,” “Using a Prime…”
It was “Using a Promo Code.” There was $75,000 in the envelope, which would have given him $109,426. Cabanilla had a four-day total of $171,068. He will return on Wednesday for his fifth game.
Fans want the rule changed in the Champions Tournament so that if a winner cannot solve the Bonus Round puzzle, their turn is over. Cabanilla has only solved one out of four Bonus Puzzles. “At this point, it feels like the contestant should only move on if they also win the bonus round. Just my opinion,” a Reddit user said.
“I agree, but we’d never see anyone win more than twice then. In the 21st century, since they’ve brought back returning contestants, only three people to date were able to win the Bonus Round twice,” a fan replied.
“Chad’s dominating HARD in the main game, but he just can’t make it work in the bonus round. Today’s puzzle was a bit easier, but 75 again?!” a third added.
“Chad is really good at this (except Bonus puzzle). I’m happy for him but ready for someone else to go to the Bonus round,” another said.
“He also didn’t get the bonus round, so it feels kinda meh,” a fan commented.
What do you think of his champions tournament? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
Spin That Wheel
Get absolutely everything about Wheel of Fortune in your inbox!
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services