Rinku Singh first made headlines in 2008 when he won the Million Dollar Arm reality TV show pitching contest that saw him set off for the US from Gopiganj in Uttar Pradesh. That journey saw him eventually become the first Indian to play professional baseball, with the
Pittsburgh Pirates
.
The 2014 movie - Million dollar arm, featuring John Hamm (of Mad Men fame) is based on Rinku and another pitcher (Dinesh Patel's) lives and journey to the US.
Rinku, who goes by the ring name of
Veer Mahaan
in the
WWE was a guest on the latest episode of Times of India's sports podcast - Sportscast recently and talked about his life journey so far in great detail.
“Talking about the Million Dollar Arm journey, it was life changing. Life changing for me, life changing for my family. I was able to build a house for my mom and dad when I was 19 years old. That was my dream growing up - to help my father retire early. He was a truck driver. I was the youngest in the family and my dream was to build a home and help my mom and dad retire and thank God I was able to do that.” Rinku said on TOI Sportscast.
Rinku's life had changed overnight, but there were other glorious chapters waiting to be written. From baseball, Rinku shifted his focus to the WWE.
“It was tough in the beginning. I thought being a professional athlete everything was very easy and simple, because we athletes pick up things very very easily. But as I got into the ring I realised that what a WWE superstar does in the ring, no other sport can be compared with it. I had been a professional athlete for 8 and a half years and I thought - 'man this is going to take me a long time to get.” Rinku said on TOI Sportscast.
(Photo credit: WWE)The decision to switch to WWE also meant he had to go through an incredible physical transformation.
“When I signed for pro baseball I was a 150 pound kid and then when I signed for WWE I was at 256 pounds, so it wasn't easy. Being a vegetarian, it's hard to find enough protein. There were many meal-prep companies that I tried on, but they didn't work. It's like you have to have Indian food then you are going to feel like - yes I got something. So till today I still cook, I still make my own meal-prep, for me to be able to keep a track of how much protein and calories etc I am ingesting. My whole free time goes into meal-prep,” Rinku said on TOI Sportscast.
(Photo credit: WWE)Rinku has eight siblings and the journey that his life has taken him saw Rinku leave his home and family behind at a very young age. But he is thankful that he has been able to support his family from a very early age.
“It's been hard being away from my family since I was 17 years old, but I feel when you are trying to achieve greatness you have to sacrifice many things. And I feel that every time I have dedicated time to either baseball or WWE, it has always paid off big time. I may not be physically there for my family, but I am always there to support my family financially ,” Rinku said on TOI Sportscast.
(Photo credit: WWE)Rinku Singh aka Veer Mahaan made his WWE Raw debut recently after 12 consecutive wins in the WWE main event.
“I always say one thing: it is easy to make it to the top, it's hard to stay there. So that is my focus now to stay there. It's a lot to do with the body and travelling. The travelling I was used to in baseball also, but not as much as it is in the WWE. Constantly travelling and learning, city to city and performing, it's a different lifestyle, but I enjoy every second of it because I get to represent an entire nation,” Rinku said on TOI Sportscast.
(Photo credit: WWE)Listen to the full episode of TOI Sportscast with Rinku Singh aka Veer Mahaan here
Get IPL 2025 match schedules, squads, points table, and live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.