Rinku Singh (baseball)

For the cricketer, see Rinku Singh (cricketer).

Rinku Singh
Birth name	Rinku Singh Rajput
Born	(1988-08-08) 8 August 1988 (age 35) Gopiganj, Uttar Pradesh, India
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Rinku Rinku Singh Veer [1] Veer Mahaan
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm) [2]
Billed weight	275 lb (125 kg) [2]
Billed from	Uttar Pradesh, India [2]
Trained by	WWE Performance Center
Debut	2018

Rinku Singh Rajput ^[3] (born 8 August 1988) is an Indian professional wrestler and former professional baseball player. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Veer Mahaan, or simply Veer.

Singh was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation after he won a pitching contest on a 2008 reality television show The Million Dollar Arm. He was the first Indian to play professional baseball and spent several seasons in the minor leagues, reaching the Single-A level. ^[4] He is the subject of the movie Million Dollar Arm .

Early life

Singh grew up in poverty, the son of a truck driver, in a rural village called Gopiganj, Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh. ^[5] Singh was one of nine siblings who all lived in the family's one-room house. The home had electricity but relied on well water. Singh threw the javelin and played cricket as a little boy. ^[6] He was a junior national javelin medalist. ^[7] Singh is an alumnus of the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow.

In early 2008, Singh entered an Indian reality television show The Million Dollar Arm. The contest was created by an American sports agent J. B. Bernstein and his partners Ash Vasudevan and Will Chang to find the individual in the country who could throw the fastest and most accurate baseball. Having never heard of baseball before, Singh won the contest out of over 37,000 participants after throwing 87 miles per hour. The grand prize for the contest was $100,000. ^{[8] [9]}

After winning the contest, Singh and runner-up Dinesh Patel travelled to Los Angeles where they trained with University of Southern California pitching coach Tom House, who trained pitchers such as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. ^{[10] [11]} Singh said that most of his family did not agree with his decision to go to the United States. ^[7] On their first day in the United States the two attended their first baseball game at USC. They continued to learn the game from House and Bernstein, as well as learning English. ^[12]

Professional baseball career

1. "Veer".
2. "Veer WWE". www.wwe.com.
3. "Magh Mela: WWE wrestler Rinku Singh Rajput takes holy dip in Sangam". The Times of India . 18 February 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
4. "BaseballAmerica.com: Stats: Rinku Singh". baseballamerica.com.
5. Shah, Wajiha (31 January 2010). "Bhadohi boy Rinku is English-speaking baseball star of American league". The Indian Express . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
6. Rotstein, Gary (8 December 2008). "The Morning File: The American Dream lives on -- Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel are new Pirates". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
7. Ali, Qaiser M. (5 October 2012). "Baseball player Rinku Singh turns vegetarian ahead of Australian Baseball League". India Today . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
8. Singh, Anuraag (25 March 2008). "Rinku's village doesn't know baseball but they're all pitching for him". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
9. "A 'Home Run' for Baseball in India". intoday.in.
10. Vercammen, Paul (11 December 2008). "Indian pitchers are first for America's national pastime". CNN. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
11. Fornelli, Tom (5 November 2008). "International Pastime: Pitcher Is Latest American Job to Be Outsourced to India". Fanhouse. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
12. Langosch, Jenifer (25 November 2008). "Indian hurlers' inking opens new market". MLB.com. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
13. Kovacevic, Dejan (10 July 2009). "The Bradenton Pirates: They are the world".
14. White, Paul (4 March 2009). "Pirates pitching imports from India are a work in progress". USA Today. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
15. Staats, Wayne (6 July 2009). "Patel, Singh make debuts in GCL".
16. "Rinku Singh makes history". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
17. "Rinku Singh stats". Minor League Baseball.
18. Langosh, Jenifer (30 August 2010). "Minor Matters" . Retrieved 9 April 2012.
19. "Uttar Pradesh baseballers Rinku and Dinesh meet Obama, Ronaldinho". The Times of India . 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
20. "Individual Player Statistics". Canberra Cavalry Official Website. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
21. "Rinku Singh Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
22. Bloom, Barry. "'Million Dollar Arm' Singh aiming for Major Leagues". MLB.com . Retrieved 22 March 2014.
23. Crasnick, Jerry (15 May 2014). "Two in a billion: From India to U.S. to big screen: The journeys of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel". ESPN.com . Retrieved 16 May 2014.
24. Tim Williams. "Minor League Injury Updates: Holmes, Heredia, Ramirez, Luplow, Eppler, Frazier, Singh". piratesprospects.com.
25. "Rinku Singh to Miss the 2015 Season". Bucco Nation. April 2015.
26. "Pirates Re-Sign Rinku Singh". Bucco Nation. 9 November 2015.
27. "Pirates Minor League Free Agents and Why Brandon Cumpton Isn't Eligible". piratesprospects.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
28. "Former MLB pitcher joins WWE Performance Center".
29. Garettson, Jordan. "Indus Sher def. Ever-Rise". WWE.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
30. Gibbons, Aidan (4 June 2020). "WWE NXT Tag Team Were Pulled From TV Because Of Matt Riddle's Main Roster Call-Up". Cultaholic. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
31. "Former WWE Champion Returns During WWE Raw". WWE. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
32. "See all the results from the 2021 Draft".
33. Powell, Jason (4 October 2021). "10/4 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the WWE Draft night two, Goldberg returns, the build to WWE Crown Jewel continues". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
34. WWE [@WWE] (2 November 2021). "VEER MAHAAN COMING TO #WWERaw" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 November 2021– via Twitter.
35. Powell, Jason (4 April 2022). "4/4 WWE Raw results: Powell's live review of the Raw After WrestleMania with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, the return of Cody Rhodes, new Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair appears, the "debut" of Veer Mahaan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
36. "WWE Monday Night Raw Results for May 9th, 2022". WrestlingNews.co. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
37. "Veer Mahaan dominates opponents: WWE Playlist". WWE. 23 May 2022.
38. "Sanga reunites with his old friend Veer: WWE NXT, Oct. 4, 2022". WWE. 4 October 2022.
39. Tessier, Colin (20 April 2024). "Veer Released By WWE". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
40. "Disney's "Million Dollar Arm" begins production". The Walt Disney Studios. 30 May 2013. Archived from the original (Press release) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
41. Sneider, Jeff (17 April 2013). "'Life of Pi' Star Suraj Sharma Joins Jon Hamm in Disney's 'Million Dollar Arm' (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
42. "Sony Making Movie About Pirates' Rinku Singh And Dinesh Patel". SB Nation. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
43. "Tom McCarthy to Write Sports Drama Million Dollar Arm". Collider . 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
44. "Jon Hamm Sports Million Dollar Arm for Disney". Collider . 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
45. "'Mad Men's Jon Hamm To Play Sports Deal Maker in Disney's 'Million Dollar Arm'". 9 May 2012.

External links

• Biography portal
• Baseball portal
• India portal

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Million-Dollar Arm blog

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Rinku Singh
Pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Left