WWE Signs Former MLB Star Rinku Singh

By Raj Giri

Former MLB pitcher Rinku Singh of the Pittsburgh Pirates has signed with WWE, according to ESPN. The 6-foot-3, 256-pound left-hander had a tryout with WWE last May in Dubai.

Singh was born in Lucknow, India and grew up in poverty. He won a pitching contest on a reality television show in India, The Million Dollar Arm, in 2008. He became the first Indian to play professional baseball after signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he spent nearly eight years. He missed the 2014 MLB season after having Tommy John surgery, and missed the 2015 season due to a broken elbow. His story inspired the 2014 Disney movie, Million Dollar Arm, which starred Jon Hamm.

"Take a look at where I came from," Singh 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."

WWE.com reported today that Singh will report to the Performance Center this Tuesday with several other recruits.

"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," Singh 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."

Below is video of Singh at last May's WWE tryouts in Dubai.

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