‘Jeopardy!’: James Holzhauer Takes Swipe at Matt Amodio Ahead of ‘Masters’ Battle

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The friendly rivalry between Jeopardy! super-champs James Holzhauer and Matt Amodio added a new chapter late Monday night (March 17) when Holzhauer took an opportunity to poke fun at his upcoming Jeopardy! Masters opponent.

Responding to a tweet that asked, “What’s the worst character redesign of all time,” Holzhauer shared a side-by-side photo of himself and Amodio behind their Jeopardy! podiums. The images featured each player’s total earnings, with Holzhauer’s at almost $2.5 million and Amodio’s at $1.5 million.

The playful dig came after Amodio recently referred to himself as a “game show villain” during the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, a nod to Holzhauer, the self-declared bad boy of Jeopardy! Amodio won the JIT!, earning the $150,000 prize and a guaranteed spot in the 2025 Masters. Holzhauer already landed his spot in Masters by making it to the finals of last year’s tournament, which saw Amodio eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Amodio didn’t take the latest insult lying down. In fact, he jumped right into Holzhauer’s replies to fire back with a retort of his own. “Yea, I don’t know what game designer thought it was a good idea to give the villain character +100 charisma points,” he responded.

Yea, I don’t know what game designer thought it was a good idea to give the villain character +100 charisma points

— Matt Amodio (@AmodioMatt) March 19, 2025

Holzhauer clapped back by sharing a photo of the 2024 Masters semi-finals leaderboard, showing Amodio at the bottom. He also edited the image to include a “Charisma” column. “Not sure min-maxing was the best strategy here,” Holzhauer wrote.

Again, though, Amodio hit back, responding, “Ah, you posting the semifinal leaderboard makes it all clear now. You must not have been notified there was a finals round and you were supposed to show up to it.”

Ah, you posting the semifinal leaderboard makes it all clear now. You must not have been notified there was a finals round and you were supposed to show up to it

— Matt Amodio (@AmodioMatt) March 19, 2025

Holzhauer was outperformed in the Masters finals by second-place finisher Yogesh Raut and eventual winner Victoria Groce. Raut and Groce will also return for the 2025 Masters, where they will join Holzhauer, Amodio, and 2025 Tournament of Champions winner Neilesh Vinjamuri. The sixth and final spot will be a producers’ wildcard player.

On a recent episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Amodio revealed he’s taking his preparation for the 2025 Masters very seriously.

“I think I’m mostly doing the same things as always, but with the caveat that now I know I’m in tournament life for the rest of my Jeopardy life. I know I can raise the obscurity level on the trivia one level higher, because when I come on this stage, things that may have seemed too obscure for the regular Jeopardy, or in Masters or in JIT, that’s bottom-row material, so I keep the eye out for a tougher level,” he explained.

The big winners in all of this drama are the fans, who are thoroughly enjoying the Holzhauer versus Amodio feud.

“Honestly, this is charmingly vicious, if that’s even a thing,” one X user wrote of the recent back-and-forth.

“Matt is not a Jeopardy villain he’s a Jeopardy teddy bear,” said one Reddit commenter.

“James is a menace and he’s the best menace,” another added.

Another wrote, “Omg, coming at Matt? Maybe you really are a villian.”

“Damn somebody call 9-1-1 because Amodio gave Holzhauer a SICK BURN,” one user said.

“Matt was not at all a convincing villain. You are two of my favorite contestants ever,” another added.

What do you think of the Holzhauer vs. Amodio rivalry? Who had the best burn? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.