When Jeopardy! Masters hit the 2025 TV schedule last week, longtime fans were stoked to see Brad Rutter — the biggest winner in Jeopardy! history — return to the Alex Trebek Stage. After he turned down offers to appear in the JIT for the past couple of years, this was Rutter’s first time behind the podium since Ken Jennings beat him in 2020’s GOAT Tournament, and apparently we have their fellow GOAT contestant James Holzhauer to thank for bringing these old rivals face-to-face.
The three finalists from last year’s Masters — Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut and James Holzhauer — were among the nine invited to compete on the third season of the elite tournament on ABC (and streaming with a Hulu subscription). However, much to my enormous dismay, Holzhauer was missing from the lineup. As executive producer Michael Davies explained in a behind-the-scenes blog:
James Holzhauer, the 2023 Jeopardy! Masters champion and last year’s third-place finisher, declined our invitation to participate. Graciously, he recommended that we reach out to the person who has won more money playing Jeopardy! than any human (or computer) alive: Ken’s rival of 20 years, Brad Rutter.
I had no idea it was actually James Holzhauer’s idea to get Brad Rutter to come out of his five-year hiatus, and I’m so grateful that he did. (In a perfect world, we would have had them both, since they have Jeopardy! beef as well, but I digress.)
Jeopardy! greats Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter have shared the stage several times as competitors, including when Rutter beat the would-be host in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, when they were both beat by IBM’s Watson in 2011, when Rutter bested Jennings in the 2014’s Battle of the Decades, and when Team Brad beat Team Ken in Jeopardy! All-Star Games in 2019. Michael Davies continued:
So, when you saw that lighthearted exchange between Brad and Ken in the opening introductions — ‘I know you’re delighted to see me, Ken’ — think about how many games, years, and decades went into the formation of that moment. Even a supercomputer was involved.
When you look at how many times Brad Rutter has come out on top of Ken Jennings over the years, it’s no wonder Jennings has been ducking a GOAT rematch. In fact, it wasn’t until 2020’s Greatest of All Time Tournament that Jennings finally got revenge on his richer but less-famous counterpart. He won the first game, becoming the first human to ever beat Rutter, with James Holzhauer taking Game 2, then Jennings finishing the best-of-3 series with victories in Games 3 and 4.
I absolutely loved seeing these two come together again, and you can tell Brad Rutter’s ready to reignite the friendly rivalry, as he gave Ken Jennings hell for bringing up the 2020 tournament and said he planned to “make fun of” the host a bit while he’s there.
It may have been Brad Rutter’s first game in five years, but Michael Davies certainly didn’t ease him back into the competition upon his long-awaited return. Rutter was immediately pitted against last year’s Masters champ Victoria Groce (complete with green jacket) and runner-up Yogesh Raut. Rutter struggled on the buzzer, which isn’t really a surprise, and he finished in third place for no match points.
I’m still happy to have him back on the Alex Trebek Stage, especially reuniting with Ken Jennings. I do wish James Holzhauer was there with them, but I will just remain grateful that the game show villain decided to use his powers (and his absence) for good this time around.
Jeopardy! Masters continues at 9 p.m. ET Wednesdays on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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