New WWE SmackDown Matches, WWE Confirms New Talent Signing, WWE Superstars Hit Baseballs (Video)

- The latest episode of "Play Ball" on the MLB Network features appearances by Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Curt Hawkins and Carmella. Above is a preview with the WWE Superstars hitting baseballs.

- WWE has confirmed that both WWE United States Title tournament matches will air on Tuesday's SmackDown – Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley and Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal. The winners of those matches will face off in the finals at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. WWE has also confirmed Becky Lynch, Naomi and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan for Tuesday.

- As noted earlier via ESPN, WWE has signed former MLB pitcher Rinku Singh of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Singh, who became famous after appearing on the "Million Dollar Arm" reality series in India, worked a WWE tryout in April 2017 while the company was in Dubai. WWE confirmed the new signing with the following announcement:

"Million Dollar Arm" pitcher Rinku Singh officially joins the WWE Performance Center

As first reported on ESPN.com, former baseball pitcher Rinku Singh will officially arrive at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., this Tuesday, where he will begin training full-time in his quest to become a WWE Superstar.

The 6-foot-3, 256-pound left-hander from Bhadohi, India, is ready to throw a curveball into the WWE PC landscape. A junior national javelin throw medalist who won India's 2008 reality TV series "The Million Dollar Arm," Singh signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates to become Major League Baseball's first Indian pitcher, while his life story inspired the Disney movie "Million Dollar Arm" in 2014. In April 2017, he joined 40 male and female athletes from India and the Middle East in an invitation-only tryout at the Dubai Opera House. There, he impressed Performance Center coaches and trainers and earned himself a WWE developmental contract.

Singh realizes that transitioning from the pitcher's mound to a wrestling ring may be his greatest test, but he's confident in his abilities, and his years as a hurler familiarized him with meeting such challenges. "Take a look at where I came from," he told WWE.com. "When I started [playing baseball], there was nothing. Now we have 23 states [in India] playing baseball and softball. As I go through my journey at the Performance Center and WWE, it will continue to make things easier, and I'll have millions of people in my corner. It's going to be a fun journey."

Singh joins several other recruits in reporting to the Performance Center this Tuesday, and he looks forward to dealing very different strikes to opponents while training in Orlando.

"As long I stay focused and stay strong, just as I have over the past 10 years with baseball or track and field ? it will lead me in the right direction," he said. "Obviously, it's going to be a totally different training program [at the WWE Performance Center]. But it does not matter where you came from. You're trying to be something bigger than yourself, and you've got to give it everything you've got."

As first reported on https://t.co/a1E4IgHRlg, #MillionDollarArm pitcher #RinkuSingh has officially joined the @WWEPerformCtr! https://t.co/EHjAnRnxRH

— WWE (@WWE) January 13, 2018