Hundreds Of People Named Josh Battle In Nebraska
Last April, college student Josh Swain sent out a Facebook message to dozens of other users who shared his name. He gave them the date April 24, 2021 and coordinates for where to meet. He said “we fight, whoever wins get to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.”
In case y'all don't know, this is what the #JoshFight thing is about. I saw it as a joke on Tumblr, but I didn't think people would actually go through with it. Beautiful. pic.twitter.com/oWo4LJelZE
— Peppers | 💛🎹| 〽️🪣| 👁️ (@PinchofPeppers) April 24, 2021
It was originally just meant to be a joke. The Josh that sent the message had no intention of anything actually happening on April 24th 2021. It wasn’t until his friend reminded him a couple months ago about the message he had sent to the other “Joshes.” He then decided to buy himself a plane ticket to Lincoln Nebraska where the coordinates told everyone to meet. He also posted about the showdown again online, this time giving everyone specific instruction for how it was going to take place.
According to Insider.com, Josh didn’t expect anyone to show up, even days leading up to the event. On the day of the battle, hundreds of people named Josh showed up to Air Park in Lincoln Nebraska. Some of them even wore customs, everything from superheroes to Star Wars characters. They all had pool noodles, which the “original Josh” had suggested in his post be the weapon of choice.
Live from the front lines#JoshFight pic.twitter.com/birjsO9HbN
— John Strope (@JohnStropeIV) April 24, 2021
In the end, 5-year-old Josh Vinson, who attended the fight with his father, who’s name is also Josh, was crowned the winner. Josh Swain used the money from the fight to help the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center Foundation. There was also a food drive where people could donate to the Food Bank of Lincoln.
BREAKING: Five-year-old #LittleJosh has won the #JoshFight! pic.twitter.com/VTztUHDMeW
— Yousef Nasser (@YousefNasserTV) April 24, 2021