For a minute there, it looked like the annual 4th Of July Nathan’s Hot Dot Eating Contest wasn’t going to happen today. The event actually was canceled due to inclement weather, but the contest did end up happening after all. Joey Chestnut ended up winning (as he usually does) and said, “What a roller coaster emotionally. They told us it was canceled. We weren’t sure we were going to eat today, and I’m just happy. It’s the 4th Of July and I got to eat some hot dogs and get a win.”
The show was a roller coaster ride for Zach Bryan, too, since he had a presence during the broadcast.
As the contest was underway on ESPN, one of the commentators compared Nick Wehry and Chestnut by saying, “Wehry is good, he is very good, but he’s not quite Joey yet. Wehry is basically where Zach Bryan is, and Joey has the mantle as Jason Isbell. Both very talented, but there can be just one king.”
Bryan seemingly couldn’t believe it, as he shared the video and tweeted, “if this is real it’s the funniest sh*t that’s ever happened to me.”
if this is real it’s the funniest shit that’s ever happened to me https://t.co/IO8T3nbCfG
— Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) July 4, 2023
For the record, it does seem to be real, as other people tweeted about the moment, too. Isbell hasn’t addressed the video yet, but he did tweet about the contest today, writing, “hot dog contest should be judged by style each contestant should only eat one hot dog.”
hot dog contest should be judged by style each contestant should only eat one hot dog
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 4, 2023