The former England striker who was celebrating his 39th birthday rolled back the years with a vintage performance capped with a superb equaliser that turned the game away from a previously rampant home side.
Sheringham pounced nine minutes into the second half of an absorbing promotion clash when he took advantage of some indecisive Wigan defending to lash the ball home from close range.
And 12 minutes later West Ham's comeback was complete when the pacey Marlon Harewood rifled a shot past Wigan keeper John Filan to bring his side an unlikely looking three points.
Earlier Wigan had taken a deserved lead when Jason Roberts fired home his 19th goal of the season five minutes into the second half after a superb through ball from Graham Kavanagh.
Wigan might have been out of sight before Roberts opened the scoring as the same player missed a golden chance midway through the first half and was then denied what looked a clear penalty when he was brought down by Tomas Repka.
But West Ham too had their moment, not least through the impressive Harewood. He should have scored just after Sheringham's equaliser when he rounded Wigan keeper Filan but lost the chance and then moments later he tested Filan with a long-range effort.
Latics boss Paul Jewell was philosophical in defeat saying: "We are disappointed, but it's a matter of coming in tomorrow, getting our heads up and putting this behind us.
"We played well up to the goal and when we scored I thought we would go on to win it, but we sat back and allowed West Ham to come after us.
"It's still in our hands and we mustn't forget that, but it's a matter now of keeping a cool head and not panicking."
West Ham boss Alan Pardew said: "This was a great performance and a terrific result for the players and fans. This was a good day for West Ham.
"We have won here and at Sunderland and Ipswich and that says a lot about us because we have one good result and follow it up with a bad one, so Tuesday's game against Burnley is very important to us now."
And on the evergreen Sheringham, Pardew added: "He has quality throughout his game and is a major asset in the dressing room, let alone what he does on the pitch."