Rinku Singh confesses that, as a kid, he had a troublesome time comprehending why his father was once nearly by no means house. Days would move, then weeks, months, as Singh grew up together with his huge circle of relatives in a one-bed room house in Holpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi district. “But when I grew up, I understood that he was the only man in our family who was providing us three meals a day, a roof over our heads,” says Singh, talking to INDIA TODAY over Zoom. “That’s when I made the decision to make my father and mother’s life better. I never needed motivation outside of my dad,” he says. “He is my hero.” Singh’s father was once a truck motive force, spending a lot of his nights at the highway, steadily travelling on hazardous routes throughout north India.
Soon, Singh would trip, too. First, he threw javelins; then, he threw baseballs; and now, he throws wrestling combatants outdoor the confines of the hoop. Singh’s ring character is Veer Mahaan, onfe of the few Indian superstars to make the step forward with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the sector’s maximum dominant skilled wrestling promotion. Now, he’s higher identified for his ferocious roars, for his lengthy locks and beard, for the trademark tripundra on his brow, and the cervical grasp that beats combatants into submission.
While pursuing observe and box as an adolescent, Singh confronted a lifestyles-converting fork within the highway when he bested over 37,000 different contestants to win the baseball-based totally truth TV show Million Dollar Arm. Like his father sooner than him, paintings and alternative uprooted Singh—taking him and runner-up Dinesh Patel to Los Angeles to educate as baseball pitchers.
Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Singh made historical past by way of turning into the primary Indian citizen to seem in a qualified 3-hitter in america. Singh and Patel’s tale was once ‘Disneyfied’ at the large display with the 2014 movie Million Dollar Arm. Both pitchers had came upon baseball overdue in lifestyles, and, ultimately, the fairy-story got here to an finish. Patel returned to India and turned into a countrywide-stage javelin thrower. Meanwhile, Singh, after a couple of extra baseball stops in minor leagues, Australia and the Dominican Republic, took every other jump of religion: In 2018, he signed a freelance with the WWE to input the sector {of professional} wrestling, migrating from the ‘diamond’ to the ‘squared circle’.
“My goal has always been to help the community,” says Singh about his journey. “I’m 33 and this is the third career change for me. As long as I’m able to represent the nation and represent its culture and tradition, I’ll keep going.” One of the most important demanding situations for Singh was once to trade his bodily construct. He was once at all times slightly tall (6-ft-3), however for his flip as a professional wrestler, he additionally bulked up to 125 kg to carry out towards probably the most maximum tough combatants within the ring. “It was more about gaining weight, and looking at certain ways to represent the body. I think the eating [diet] was very challenging, and training is totally different.”
“It wasn’t easy, it was hard,” he provides with amusing. “But I had to do it.”
Early on, Singh gave the impression in a wrestling tag crew with fellow Indian Saurav Gurjar—a former actor well-known for his position as Bheem within the 2013 Mahabharat TV collection. More not too long ago, Singh resurfaced in his present avatar, Veer Mahaan—the Great Warrior—clad in his lungi, greeting combatants with a namaste sooner than roaring previous them.
Professional wrestling—and particularly the WWE—has been standard amongst Indian audiences for many years. Even even though it’s technically no longer a ‘sport’, WWE programmes are a number of the maximum considered presentations on Indian sports activities channels, trailing best cricket and kabaddi. In go back, the WWE has featured a handful of Indian-origin superstars previously, together with The Great Khali (Dalip Singh Rana) and Jinder Mahal (Yuvraj Singh Dhesi). Rinku Singh will hope that Veer can develop into the following, secure large title on that record.
“Eventually, it’s going to lead into a good place,” he says. “Maybe bring the championship belt all the way back to India. Maybe go against [legendary pro wrestlers] Brock Lesner or Roman Reigns, because that’s what our Indian fans have been wanting to see.”
For now, Singh will proceed to develop his emblem, to take on this newest occupation selection, to proceed to make his father proud. He remembers how shut he turned into to his father after his mother passed on to the great beyond, how a lot he began to find out about his father’s journey. “I would ask him, ‘What’s it like to be in Superman mode? I’m pretty sure you felt tired, you felt like quitting? What kept you going?’ His answer was, ‘You. You guys kept me going.’”
Now, Singh seems in the course of the Zoom display, an athlete at the cusp of every other primary success. “You’re asking me what keeps me going? It’s my father, my country, my pride. There are so many reasons I have in life.”