Why is #JoshFight trending on Twitter? Hundreds gather to fight over who is the ‘one true Josh’

Theo Salaun
josh fight twitter

There are a lot of people named Josh in the world. Some would argue that there are too many, so hundreds of Joshes have gathered to fight each other over who the real Josh is, and Twitter is passionately covering the action.

Random Google searches suggest that there are around a million people named Joshua in the United States of America. But census workers will have their work cut out for them after today, as there should only be one ‘true’ Josh left.

It started with a Facebook group message to all of the Josh Swains around, but it has ended in a five-year-old earning the Josh name all to himself. On April 24, a huge crowd of people with one thing in common — their name — amassed at the following coordinates: 40.8223287, -96.7982002 (also known as Middle Creek, Nebraska, for the non-cartographers around).

With all Joshes meeting to brawl over retaining their signatures, social media lit ablaze with #JoshFight hashtags and videos of the action. From Chewbacca cosplays and pool noodles to furries and rock, paper, scissors matchups, the Josh Fight seemed to have it all.

josh fight facebook message
The origins of the #JoshFight.

While the battle for a name had humble beginnings and started solely with those possessing the full “Josh Swain” moniker, it quickly outgrew those roots. Within minutes, Middle Creek was filled with Josh upon Josh, eager to duel over some letters.

Eventually, after introductions (easy ones, we presume) and some rock, paper, scissors contests — it was time for the main event: an all-out brawl. And “all-out” is probably the only way you can describe it.

Chewbacca, a Jedi, Spider-Man — wait, no, two Spider-Men — a Roman gladiator, a shirtless, sharpied man, a guy in a wolf t-shirt…every type of Josh imaginable seemed to be involved in the legendary brawl.

But only one Josh could reign supreme, and the crowd was happy to see it. At the end of it all, the last remaining Josh was “Little Josh,” who is five years old and full of courage.

With chants of “Little Josh,” a crown, and a championship belt, the tiniest Josh earned the highest praise and was asked for comment after his impressive performance. With the megaphone to his mouth, Little Josh simply proclaimed: “[something, something] fight anyone.”

You hear that, non-Joshes? Little Josh’s rage is not restrained to just those sharing his name. Who knows which group he will take down next.

About The Author

Théo is a former writer at Dexerto based in New York and built on competition. Formerly an editor for Bleacher Report and philosophy student at McGill, he fell in love with Overwatch and Call of Duty — leading him to focus on esports for Dex.