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Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh

Saint John, NB, Canada / 97.3 The Wave
Nesta Matthews
Apr 26, 2021 | 10:20 AM
Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh

'The Perfect Bracket"' Photo: Yousef Nasser



Last year, dozens and dozen of invites were sent to join a Facebook page. The one thing they all had in common: they were named Josh.

Josh Swain, the creator of the page, is a 22-year-old college student down in Arizona. Last April, like many of us, he was home because of the pandemic and bored. So, he planned a low impact fight – like fencing with pool noodles – to see who is the official Josh. No other Joshes would remain.

Like a lot of pandemic pipe dreams, Josh could have anticipated just how big this thing would get. He posted on Reddit, “This was a complete joke, …but the internet ran with it, and ran with enough endurance for you all to remember a YEAR later. That doesn’t happen very often, so I’m afraid I have to oblige the internet and trek all the way across the contiguous United States to defend my name.”Hundreds of men named Josh gathered in Lincoln, Nebraska – chosen for it’s central location in the US. One minor hiccup; the initial coordinates chosen were on private property and the owner did not agree to host ‘such a ridiculous event’ so they moved the Josh Fight to Air Park, 4.2 km away.There were three ‘fights’ in total – anyone named Josh Swain could battle over rock paper scissors in the ‘Swainbowl’, a pool noodles duel for all attendees named Josh, and a third battle where anyone who showed up could fight it out with pool noodles.

Josh Swain, the event’s creator, beat the only other Josh Swain in attendance – from Omaha – in rock paper scissors. But it was Little Josh, a local four-year-old boy named Josh Vinson Jr., who was declared the overall winning Josh and crowned with a paper crown from Burger King and a replica AEW World Championship belt.

Not only did the Josh Fight raise over $8k for the Omaha Children’s Hospital, that is also the hospital where Little Josh has been treated for epilepsy since he was two.

All hail the official Josh!