Rinku Singh (August 8, 1988) is an Indian professional wrestler and former professional baseball player previously signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the Raw brand under the ring name Veer. In baseball, Singh was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization 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 Single-A level. 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 in Bhadohi. 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 javelin and played cricket as a child. He was a junior national javelin medalist. 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 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.
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. Singh said that most of his family did not agree with his decision to go to the United States. 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.
Professional baseball career[]
Singh, along with Patel, tried out in front of scouts from 20 Major League Baseball teams in November 2008, and Singh's pitches reached 92 miles per hour (148 km/h). Reports from Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Joe Ferrone and Sean Campbell led to general manager Neal Huntington signing both to contracts with the organization. With the deal, the pair became the first Indians to sign American major league baseball contracts. The total signing bonus for the two was $8,000. After training, the two returned to visit their families in India before entering Pirates training camp in Bradenton, Florida. Singh and Patel began the 2009 baseball season with the Pirates' Gulf Coast League affiliate.
On July 4, 2009, Singh became the first Indian citizen to appear in a professional baseball game in the US. He pitched the seventh inning, while Dinesh Patel pitched the eighth inning. On July 13, 2009, Singh won his first professional baseball game in America, striking out the only batter he faced. He finished the season with a 1–2 record and a 5.84 ERA in 11 games, allowing just one run on three hits in his final six appearances.
Singh went 2–0 with a 2.61 ERA over 13 games with the Pirates GCL affiliate in 2010. At the end of August, Singh was promoted to the Pirates Class A Short-Season affiliate, the State College Spikes. He met with US President Barack Obama at a White House Heritage Month event on 24 May 2010. Singh played for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League for the competition's inaugural 2010–11 season, going 1–0 with a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings pitched.
Singh opened the 2011 season in the Dominican Summer League. Singh pitched well in eight games spread over the DSL, Gulf Coast League and New York–Penn League, then joined the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League in July 2011. Singh returned to the Australian Baseball League for the 2011–12 season with the Adelaide Bite. He made the World All-Star team for the 2011 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game. In 2012, he pitched in a career-high 39 games for the Power, throwing 72 innings, earning a 3–1 win–loss record and striking out 65 batters. Singh has struggled with injuries and missed the entire 2013 season, but he was invited to 2014 spring training by the Pirates. Singh also missed the entire 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery. Singh also missed all of the 2015 season due to a broken elbow.
The Pirates re-signed Singh on 9 November 2015. He made one appearance for the Gulf Coast League Pirates in 2016, pitching one scoreless inning.
Professional wrestling career[]
World Wrestling Entertainment[]
NXT (2018–2020)[]
On January 13, 2018, Singh signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). On May 31 2018, he made his in-ring debut at a NXT live event in Tampa, in a loss to Kassius Ohno. During the June 2 NXT Live event, Singh entered a Number One Contendership battle royal match for the NXT North American Championship but it was eventually won by Tucker Knight. Singh returned to wrestle during the June 28 NXT Live event in a match lost to Babatunde Aiyegbusi. During the June 26 NXT Live event, Singh teamed with Jeet Rama in a tag match lost to Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi. Singh returned for the August 4 NXT Live event where he lost Kassius Ohno in a singles rematch. Singh returned a week later for the August 9 NXT Live event, where he lost to fellow NXT recruit Keith Lee. During the September 6 NXT Live event, Singh won his first singles victory against Kona Reeves by Count-Out. He defeated Reeves in a rematch during the September 8 NXT Live event. Five days later during the September 13 NXT Live event, Singh wrestled and lost to the latest NXT recruit Keith Lee. On the following night's NXT Live event, Singh lost by disqualification to Undisputed ERA member Adam Cole. At the September 28 NXT Live event, Singh teamed with fellow recruit Saurav Gurjar in a tag match lost against Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan. At the September 29 NXT Live event, Singh & Saurav Gurjar teamed with British newcomer Luke Menzies in a tag match lost to Jeet Rama & Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford). Singh returned the following month during the October 13 NXT Live event, losing to Humberto Carrillo. He wrestled his first mixed tag match during the October 20 NXT Live event, where they lost to Jaxson Ryker & Lacey Evans. The following month, Singh's only match was held during the November 3 NXT Liven event, where he lost to Dominik Dijakovic. He finished the year at a December 14 NXT Live event, during which he teamed with Mansoor Al-Shehail in a tag match lost against team Heavy Machinery.
The following year in 2019, Singh returned during a January 12 NXT Live event, teaming with fellow countryman Saurav Gurjar in a Number One Contender Gauntlet match for the NXT Tag Team Championship. During the following months Singh continued his work in Live events, competing in singles matches. He also established a steady team with Saurav Gurjar in tag matches at Live events during the months including a successful tag match won at the July 26 NXT Live event, defeating Australian recruits Bronson Reed & Daniel Vidot. He continued wrestling in live events for the remainder of 2019 until March 6, 2020, prior to the COVID-19 health restrictions caused an extended suspension of live event operations. On the April 8 episode of NXT, Rinku teamed with countryman Saurav debuting their team name Indus Sher in defeating Ever-Rise. He wrestled his final match of the year on the June 10 episode of NXT where he teamed with fellow countrymen Saurav under the team name Indus Sher, in defeating opponents Mike Reed and Mikey Delbrey. This would be Rinku's final match in NXT.
Indus Sher returned to television on January 22, 2021 at Superstar Spectacle, teaming with Drew McIntyre in defeating Jinder Mahal & The Bollywood Boyz.
RAW brand[]
Under the ring name Veer Mahaan (later shorten to Veer), he made his televised main roster debut on the July 26 episode of RAW where he wrestled his first match with Jinder Mahal in his corner. Veer wrestled Mahal's former 3MB teammate Drew McIntyre in a match lost after a disqualification. He went on to wrestle with Mahal on the September 6 episode of RAW, entering a Tag Team Turmoil match to decide the Number One Contender for the RAW Tag Team titles. They became the new Number One Contenders at the conclusion of the match.
Film[]
Patel and Singh's story is the basis for the Walt Disney Pictures sports film, Million Dollar Arm, where Singh was portrayed by Suraj Sharma. In 2009, Columbia Pictures purchased the screen rights to the story of Singh and Patel. The project stalled and eventually producers Joe Roth and Mark Ciardi set the film up at Walt Disney Pictures. Upon acquiring Million Dollar Arm, Disney hired Tom McCarthy to write the film. Jon Hamm played J.B. Bernstein.
Personal life[]
In 2012, Singh became a vegetarian after he witnessed several men in Bhadohi chasing a chicken in order to kill it. That year, he said that he recites the devotional Hanuman Chalisa and listens to Eminem's "Not Afraid" before he pitches.
In wrestling[]
- Finishers
- Million Dollar Arm
- Cervical Clutch
- Rolling DDT
- Signature moves
- Jumping Body Block
- Sidewalk Slam followed by a Jumping Elbow drop
- Repeated Body Avalanches
- Hip Drop
- Chop Drop to the throat
- Entrance music
- "Roar" by def rebel
- Nicknames
- "The Lion"
- Managers and valets
- Tag teams and stables
- Indus Sher - with Sanga
