Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com had an opportunity to catch up with former prospect pitcher and current NXT star Rinku Singh while the Pittsburgh Pirates are in Florida for spring training. Singh was able to reunite with his former teammates since the man with a “Million Dollar Arm” left the baseball diamond for the squared circle in 2016. Quotes from Williams’ interview are below:
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Rinku Singh on how he got into wrestling:
After deciding to take some time off from baseball — and I think the Pittsburgh Pirates had already given me every tool to get better, personal and professional life — I think that mindset was kind of ready to do anything and everything that came up. The WWE opportunity came, and I took it, because of the mindset I had from this organization, and the hunger of making change in the world.
On working on his character as well as his athleticism:
WWE, we have one of the world’s best facilities for acting, for training, for medical, to anything you name, we have it. It’s all under one roof. We have studio, it’s called the mirror room, where you practice how you talk and your looks and everything. Then you have to review it with the producer, and they’ll walk you through it, what you have to work on, and what not. We have help with everything, from the ring, from the training. For a training coach, we have Sean Hayes. He’s one of the best, from the NFL, we have the best coach ever. You can tell. [Motions to his build and laughs.] So we have every tool out there to become a WWE superstar.
On who has been a big influence for him in WWE:
The Pirates’ organization itself is one of the great organizations. I feel like being with the Pirates’ organization for so long, they’re just amazing. It doesn’t matter how much I talk about it, I’m very much thankful for the organization. They built me as a man, and as a player I’ve learned so many good things with this organization. I have been spreading this culture. Everywhere else I’ve gone, I’ve always carried the Pittsburgh Pirates culture and tradition. That helped me a lot going into a new profession in WWE.
Being there, learning a lot from our WWE superstar John Cena, if you see how much he does outside of the ring, it’s absolutely amazing. Going everywhere and putting a smile on a kid’s face. He’s always visiting hospitals and making time for the kids. It’s amazing to see, and that’s kind of inspired me every single day to get better and get more out there to put a smile.
On his finisher and incorporating his baseball past into his wrestling role:
Finisher, we’re talking about the fastball, Million Dollar Arm pitch. We’re thinking about working on that with the left arm after the big — I can’t say my move — but it’s going to be a left-hand finisher.
In the wrestling world, to introduce the baseball thing. It’s a totally different audience, baseball versus wrestling. That’s a way to introduce the Million Dollar Arm, plus the Pittsburgh Pirates and the story behind it.
You can read Williams’ entire interview by going here.
