Jeopardy! fans say James Holzhauer will ‘smash’ contestant in Masters who once bragged about ‘being smarter than him’

JEOPARDY! Masters 2024 is just days away, reminding fans of the feud that newbie Yogesh Raut started with none other than James Holzhauer.

Ken Jennings hosts the six-legend ABC primetime competition starting this Wednesday.

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Season 2 of Jeopardy! Masters kicks off on May 1, airing on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.

The format pits the six top-ranked contestants against each other with two matches in each intense hour-long episode.

The contenders are Masters Season 1 champion James, last year’s finalists Matt Amodio and Mattea Roach, Producer’s Pick Amy Schneider, and newcomers Yogesh and Victoria Groce.

In the premiere, Mattea, Matt, and Victoria face off, with Victoria securing her spot through sheer grit in the recent JIT.

But the real drama unfolds in the night’s second match between Yogesh, who qualified by winning the 2024 Tournament of Champions, and the formidable duo of James and Amy.

‘HOPE HE’S PREPARED!’

Fans on social media are anticipating James’s inevitable domination over Yogesh. But they also recalled how, in 2023, Yogesh taunted James on stage, relishing in his victory over the Jeopardy! legend at high school trivia.

“The first night’s matchups for the Jeopardy Masters has just been released online,” one Facebook user started a thread.

“Second quarterfinal match of the Masters features the long-awaited James vs Yogesh battle on May 1. This is gonna be an exciting Masters tournament.”

“Hope James beats Yogesh,” one fan replied.

“James will smash the other guy,” wrote another.

“James is going to topple Yogesh,” wrote a third.

“Yogesh will be preparing to the max so he will not eat his words,” wrote a fourth.

‘HE WAS JAMIE IN THOSE DAYS’

Yogesh is a three-day champ who amassed a dominant $98,800 (including a rare perfect game) in 2023.

The pro quizzer is controversial to many fans, in part for using many of his initial interview segments to brag about his trivia prowess.

During one game, he implied he was smarter than James at trivia.

Ken prompted, “Also like me, we share a rival in James Holzhauer. You were James Holzhauer’s rival long before I was, in a sense.”

Yogesh replied, “He was Jamie Holzhauer in those days, but yes.”

“He went to a rival high school – we competed against each other in Scholastic Bowl and Math Team”

Ken asked, “Can you stack up with James Holzhauer? Or at least back in the day?”

Yogesh was not shy about how things went against the poker player-turned-Jeopardy! star long before he knew he’d be a Master.

Yogesh hilariously replied: “My team won two scholastic bowls and a state championship and his team won zero, so…”

“Well!” Ken jumped back with a grin and a wide shrug, not expecting the confidence.

“That would be, I’m not a mathematician but that would be two more” the host concluded.

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James never took to social media to respond to Yogesh’s brazen challenge perhaps biding his time to deliver a crushing blow on the grand stage of Jeopardy! Masters.

Shortly after losing, Yogesh also took to his public Facebook page criticizing Jeopardy! as “unimportant” and a “glorified reality show”, which fans haven’t forgotten.

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT MASTERS

Masters is an annual spinoff meant to determine the best player in any given year.

The Masters grand prize is $500,000, a glitzy Alex Trebek trophy and the title of Jeopardy! Masters Champion.

Fear not, show traditionalists, as Masters will not interfere with regular gameplay, and both will air those nights.

James is the one to beat, and everyone is looking to see if he can win Masters back-to-back.

Masters will begin with six quarterfinal episodes and 12 matches where no one is eliminated.

Each game will see the winner get three points, the runner-up gets one, and the third place gets zero.

Who advances and who is eliminated all depends on who has the most points.

After the fifth and sixth placers are eliminated, two semifinal episodes will begin on Friday, May 17.

After the fourth placer is eliminated, the finale will air on May 22.

One episode of two finals matches will determine the winner based on the highest combined total.

The buildup to Masters hasn’t been without its drama as fans were stunned that Amy was named the Producer’s Pick.

Amy recently and decisively lost the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament to Groce, only for both to move forward to Masters either way.

This also means Masters 2024 will only have two newcomers (JIT winner Groce and 2024 ToC winner Yogesh) instead of three.

“How do you have a tournament that eliminates people from masters but still pick them…” one fan reacted to the news.

“So then what was the point of the JIT,” asked another.

GROCE-LY UNDERESTIMATED?

Victoria won the Jeopardy’s Invitational Tournament against Amy and Andrew He, no small feat.

The Queen of The Chase has everyone buzzing after her big JIT win, and fans think she could even dethrone James.

Their faceoff comes as they are co-stars on the ABC sister show as experts, another major draw this year.

In a Jeopardy-themed Reddit forum, viewers have shared their picks, and many have chosen James to beat the competition. However, newcomer Victoria may give James a run for his money.

“Victoria really impressed me with her buzzer skills when she was on Jeopardy’s Invitational Tournament,” one fan wrote.

“Victoria vs James is gonna be epic, two chasers from The Chase playing against each other!” wrote a third.

Jeopardy! airs at 7 p.m. ET while Masters will air in a Monday/Wednesday/Friday format at 8 p.m. ET on ABC

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