User:JoshFight/Josh fight

The Josh fight was a viral internet meme, mock fight and charity fundraiser at Air Park in Lincoln, Nebraska, on April 24, 2021. The event was originally conceived by 22-year-old civil engineering student Josh Swain from Tucson, Arizona on April 24, 2020. It gained popularity after a screenshot of a Facebook Messenger group chat involving several users named Josh Swain spread widely on the internet.

Swain encouraged participants of the chat to meet at a set of coordinates and compete for the right to use the name Josh. The event, though initially intended as a joke, drew a crowd of 700 -2,000  on the day of the event. Despite the title, the gathering was lighthearted and there was no actual violence involved. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the event became a "global news phenomenon."

Background
On April 24, 2020, ten Facebook Messenger users, all named Josh Swain, were added to a group chat that read, "Josh Swain (event creator) – You're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here today[.] Unknown – Because we all share the same names....?

Josh Swain – Precisely,, meet at these coordinates, (40.82233°N, -96.7982°W) we fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck[.]"

Swain explained the idea for the event was conceived out of boredom from the COVID-19 lockdowns    and out of frustration from being unable to receive an exclusive handle on social media due to the high frequency of people who shared his name , but did not expect the invitation to go viral.there can only be one https://pic.twitter.com/VPamxjJ0yL April 24, 2020Swain posted a screenshot of the conversation on Twitter the same day. The tweet received 64 thousand likes and 21 thousand retweets within two weeks. Although Swain said the tweet was, "entirely a joke ," the conversation became a meme on social media. Days before the event, Swain took to Reddit in order to announce a fundraiser for the event to benefit the Children's Hospital & Medical Center (CH&MC) Foundation in Omaha, Nebraska, along with a request for non-perishables to start a food drive for the Food Bank of Lincoln. In the same post, Swain also encouraged attendees to bring pool noodles as mock weapons for the planned fight.

Swain picked Lincoln, Nebraska as a site for the event due to its central location within the United States. However, the specific, randomly-picked coordinates were located on private property. The property owner did not agree to host 'such a ridiculous event', and as such the fight was relocated to Air Park approximately 2.6 miles (4.2 km) away.

Event
On the chosen day, nearly a thousand people, including at least 50 named Josh, congregated at Air Park. Attendees came from as far as New York, Washington, and Texas, with some dressed in superhero and Star Wars costumes. . Others came suited with DIY costumes, consisting of body armor fashioned from soda 6-pack boxes, fast food packaging, and other objects brought in from home.

Three 'fights' were held – one game of rock paper scissors for those named Josh Swain, a second with pool noodles for all attendees named Josh, and a third and final all-in battle for anyone in possession of a pool noodle willing to participate. Only two of the individuals in attendance were named "Josh Swain" – Josh Swain, the event's creator, beat a rival 38-year-old Josh Swain from Omaha in the rock paper scissors event. A local four-year-old boy named Josh Vinson Jr., dubbed 'Little Josh', who had been treated at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha for seizures when he was two years old, was declared the overall winner. Vinson Jr. was crowned with a paper crown from Burger King as well as a replica AEW World Championship belt. Vinson Jr.'s father, Josh Vinson Sr., said afterward that his son had "had the time of his life."

Joshua Vinson, Jr.
Joshua Vinson, Jr., colloquially called "Josh" or "Little Josh" was proclaimed the winner of the event by other attendees, winning the pool noodle mock fight for all attendees named Josh. Vinson was subsequently crowned with a Burger King-branded paper crown, as well as a replica AEW World Championship belt and a small trophy. Dubbed "Little Josh" by the crowd, who went on to chant this nickname as he was crowned; some other attendees subsequently dubbed the four-year-old "King Josh".

A local from Nebraska, Vinson Jr. was treated at the Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha at the age of two for seizures. Coincidentally, the event also raised money for that same center.

Fundraisers
The gathering raised over US$13,300 for the Children's Hospital & Medical Center—over 13,000% of its initial goal of US$1,000—and collected over 1,800 lb of food for the nearby food bank. The Center has since shown appreciation for the fundraiser on social media.

Additionally, an online fan teamed up with Vinson Jr.'s father to start a college fund for the winner via internet fundraising service GoFundMe. While this fundraiser aimed to raise $10,000, it had raised only $1,360 from almost fifty patrons as of April 29th, 2021. Artists from RelentlessMerch also started a merchandise range with designs featuring an artistic likeness of Vinson Jr., donating US$8 per item sold , or 38-41% of the revenue.

Media coverage
The mock fight was covered by a number of outlets from all across the globe. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Daily News, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News and hundreds of other media outlets in the US covered the story. It was also covered in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, Italy, France, New Zealand and Germany. The event was covered by media in at least thirty countries. , United States of America.

Google Maps listings
Air Park, the venue of the event, was satirically renamed to "Legendary Josh Battlefield" (see right) on Google Maps by fans of the event on April 24th, 2021. During this time, the newly-renamed venue was also designated a 'religious destination' by fans. The change was undone on April 27th 2021.

Following its removal, a new listing of the same name was erected separately to Air Park across Google services. Designated a 'historical landmark' on the platform, it contained dozens of unrelated, meme-related images. As of April 28th, 2021, it had over 188 five-star reviews, before being removed circa May 2nd, 2021. As of May 25th, 2021, all listings for the "battleground" on Google Maps were removed, with none remaining.

Potential second Josh fight
"“It’s kind of like asking, ‘Hey, do you want to do a blind half-court shot again?’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, I mean, that would be awesome[...]it would have to be like, a lot more controlled, a lot less spontaneous. But I think there is definitely that potential there.”" In an interview with KLKN (a local ABC affiliate from Nebraska), event creator Josh Swain stated that creating another Josh fight would be difficult, but that he would be open to the idea. However, no concrete plans have been made for a second fight, and it seems unlikely in the near future.

Other events
Meanwhile, many similar, homage events have already been planned with different names, such as Kyle, Karen, Heather and Nathan; screenshots of which have been circulated via Facebook meme groups. However, it appears unlikely such an event would actually go ahead in the near future.