After the success of the first “Josh Fight” last year, hundreds of Josh’s returned to Nebraska, armed with pool noodles, hoping to keep their name.
Remember about a year ago (yeah, it was only a year ago) when hundreds of people named Josh met up in a Nebraska park to fight for their name?
Well it seems to have become an annual event, with hundreds of Josh’s turning up to the same park again this year, armed with pool noodles to determine the one true Josh.
The origins of the “Josh Fight” can be tracked back to 2020, when Josh Swain, a college student from Arizona was bored during class and decided to start a Facebook group chat with eight other people named Josh Swain.
He kicked off the conversation by writing: “You’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today.”
One of the Josh’s must’ve been pretty switched on, replying “Because we all share the same names?”
Swain replied with a somewhat threatening message: “Precisely, 4/24/2021, josh, meet at these coordinates (40.82223286, -96.7982002). We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”
there can only be one pic.twitter.com/VPamxjJ0yL
— joshua swain (@joshswainaz) April 24, 2020
The 22-year-old student shared a screenshot of the conversation on Twitter, which went completely viral, escalating into a battle between Josh’s of any surname.
Last year, 4-year-old Josh Vinson Jr. overcame every other Josh to take home an oversized Burger King crown. Vinson Jr. returned to defend his title, and succeeded, continuing his reign as Josh number 1.
This year, the event raised $21,000 for the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, which was matched by the owners of wine label, Josh Cellars, with a donation of their own.
We’re calling it: In 10 years, the Josh fight will be a bigger sporting event than the Olympics, and we cannot wait until that day comes.
