James Holzhauer Posts Classic Zinger Amid ‘Masters’ Battle

Jeopardy! icon James Holzhauer is currently defending his Jeopardy! Masters title, but he took some time out earlier this week to weigh in on the Kendrick Lamar versus Drake beef.

After an X user said, “Beefs don’t work in any other genre. Can you imagine 21 pilots and imagine dragons writing diss tracks about each other,” Holzhauer responded with a classic Jeopardy! clip that proved beefs can certainly happen on game shows.

The clip was from the 2020 Greatest of All-Time tournament, which saw Holzhauer battling it out with fellow Jeopardy! legends Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. The moment featured Holzhauer’s epic diss of Rutter, where he pointed out how Rutter’s score of “0” was still on the screen after the boards reset, and Ken Jennings raised his hands in shock at what Holzhauer had said, reacting with a “Wow!”

It was a moment viewers will never forget.

“Funniest line ever delivered on Jeopardy!” responded one fan.

pic.twitter.com/xCTQWICfXF https://t.co/ra3dqWtnSX

— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) May 6, 2024

“‘It’s gotten to be that kind of competition, hasn’t it’” is one my all time Alex Trebek lines, great follow up,” said another, referring to the late Alex Trebek’s response to Holzhauer’s burn.

“Best burn in Jeopardy history. I think of it often,” added another.

“I loved that when I was watching this as it aired. Just brutal. I still don’t think Brad has recovered from that burn,” said one commenter.

Another wrote, “I do love how quick you were to sass that Not even skipping a beat and it was well delivered to get a laugh from everyone.”

Self-confessed pro-wrestling fan Holzhauer is known for his verbal smackdowns, most often using his time on stage to poke fun at his long-time rival Jennings. He’s also recently nicknamed himself the “Final Boss” of Jeopardy!, a reference to The Rock‘s recent WWE gimmick.

The Jeopardy! GOAT tournament took place in January 2020 and saw Holzhauer, Jennings, and Rutter competing for a $1 million grand prize. Each match consisted of two games, with the contestant with the highest combined score from the two games winning the match. The first one to three match wins won the tournament. Ultimately, Jennings secured the win.

Holzhauer is currently competing in the second season of Jeopardy! Masters, where’s defending his crown against last year’s runners-up Matt Amodio & Mattea Roach, Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner Victoria Groce, 2024 Tournament of Champions winner Yogesh Raut, and Producers’ Pick Amy Schneider.

As of Wednesday (May 8), Holzhauer currently sits in third place on the Masters leaderboard, having won one game and finished second twice, giving up 5 points total. Groce leads the way with 9 points total.