‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Makes Big Change After James Holzhauer Shocker

Disney/Eric McCandless

James Holzhauer came into the second season of Jeopardy! Masters as the “Final Boss of Jeopardy,” but by the third episode, the nickname had disappeared. Now, shocked fans are wondering if this is because of his less-than-stellar performance in the tournament so far.

A viewer brought up the topic on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum after noticing the show had stopped doing the “occupation” intros starting with Episode 3. For comparison, in Season 1, the intros were still included all the way up until the semi-finals.

“I can’t help but wonder if this has to do with with James being the self-described “Final Boss” but (so far) turning in a less-than-dominant performance,” the Reddit user wrote. “That line doesn’t seem so funny under these circumstances and could even be interpreted as a little embarrassing.”

Holzhauer has used nicknames for his “occupation” intro before, including last year, when he went by the title of “self-described game show supervillain.” After winning the first Masters tournament, Holzhauer returned to Season 2 with the “Final Boss” moniker.

As some viewers pointed out, Holzhauer is a big pro-wrestling fan, and the nickname “Final Boss” is a nod to The Rock’s recent bad guy character in WWE.

However, some fans think Holzhauer might have asked for the occupation intros to be dropped after he’s failed to live up to the “Final Boss” title so far. Holzhauer currently sits in third place on the Masters leaderboard with 5 points, but he was completely shut out on Friday’s (May 10) game by board leaders Victoria Groce and Yogesh Raut.

“I wonder if either James or the producers said “let’s stop that line” and they had the choice of either changing James’ occupation (which is a bit like admitting he is no longer the Final Boss) or eliminating them altogether,” the original Reddit poster continued.

“It might be for the best long-term. You could argue James has almost locked himself into trying to come up with a more clever name every time and it’s hard to keep one upping yourself. Maybe he could go with “bon vivant and man about town,” replied another, making reference to Sam Buttrey‘s occupation in the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.

“Or they could have just told him to knock off the smart ass intro and just announced him as a professional gambler or whatever he does,” added another.

“Maybe part of it. It’s also becoming awkward because they don’t want to say “Professional Jeopardy/Trivia Celebrity” which is what you do for a living once you’ve won enough,” suggested one commenter.

“After a few episodes, we know their occupation. It’s not like they are going to change jobs during Masters,” another argued.

Another added, “I think it definitely has something to do with James. If you look at last year’s masters intros he looks really smug and arrogant but in this year’s intro he looks completely dejected and kind of angry.”

“I think the producers have decided making James the equivalent of a wrestling heel has run its course,” said another.

What do you think? Should Holzhauer drop the nicknames permanently? Or should he come up with something new? Let us know in the comments below.

Jeopardy! Masters, Night Five, May 13, 8/7c, ABC