Exclusive || Eying to fight Roman Reign, he will succumb to cervical clutch: Veer Mahan

Exclusive: A lanky Baseball pitcher turned professional Indian wrestler, Rinku Singh aka Veer Mahan has proved himself as a force to be reckoned with at the most decorative and watched wrestling stage i.e., World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Born and brought up in Indian city of Gopiganj, Uttar Pradesh, Veer Mahan hails from a humble background, as his family could only afford one room which accommodated Rinku, his parents along with eight siblings. Rinku had always endured to improve the destiny of his family.

Veer’s sporting journey started from Javelin throw, but little he knew that his participation in a baseball talent-scout reality show, Million Dollar Arm in 2008, will take him to the United States of America. Rinku Singh was already a established Javelin thrower, and was about to represent India in Olympics, but things didn’t go as per plan as destiny had some special plans for the future WWE star. He won the Million Dollar Arm competition, and his unreal ability to pitch 90 plus miles per hour earned him a prized contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rinku’s story became the subject of a critically acclaimed movie, Million Dollar Arm currently streaming on Disney plus Hotstar.

The 33-year-old maintains an unbeaten streak at WWE Raw and his submission move, the cervical clutch is a formidable challenge for opponents as none of them have found a way to tackle it. He takes only couple of seconds to force his opponent to plead guilty, guilty of dreaming to tip Veer, a 6 ft 4-inch Indian giant who is an ardent follower of Lord Shiva. In an exclusive interaction with Veer Mahan aka Rinku Singh, The Quotes discussed various aspects of his journey, challenges, faith and life after becoming WWE star. Excerpts of the conversation are as follows-:

Q] How are you doing sir? Indeed, a long journey but an illustrious one. How do you feel?

Answer: Thanks a lot for reaching out to me. I feel great. It was a topsy turvy ride but I believe in trusting my own abilities and be determined. I have always aspired to be the best at what I do, and similarly I am aiming to achieve more landmarks in WWE. I will not accept anything less than being number 1. If I become the champion, it will inspire millions of youngsters in India to do some amazing work and never lose faith in themselves. I want to be source of inspiration from them and tell them to stay focused and don’t get distract from tough times.

Q] Who are you fighting next?

Answer: That is something we are never informed about till we reach our venue of the next fight. For example, I am currently travelling to Arizona, a southwestern U.S. state, but I am not aware of who I am going to fight. And my next venue will be Tampa in Florida.

Q] If you could please recall and share the motivation and inspiration behind participating in Million Dollar Arm competition, despite doing so well in Javelin.

Answer: I had a tough childhood. My father used to drive truck and that fact used to give me nightmares. I wanted to let him retire as early as possible. I was a good Javelin thrower and qualified in the Indian camp for Olympics, as well. But things didn’t go as per the plan and I ended up participating in baseball tournament. I shared my wish to take part in the tournament with my mother, but she insisted to focus on education.

Still, I travelled to New Delhi and fantasized about a good life for my family throughout the journey. Fortunately, I performed well and won the tournament.

Q] We all understand your reason behind taking up baseball at the time when you were already doing well in Javelin. What inspired you to quit Baseball and choose wrestling?

Answer: It was my dream to represent the nation in the Olympics. But I took up the challenge of playing Baseball and did pretty well in that game. After ten years of playing Baseball, when I decided to move on from the game and take up wrestling, I was too nervous and scared of the physical transformation and wrestling demands.

Till the time you don’t wrestle, you will never understand the physical need of the game. It requires different level of workout, fitness and strength. The decision was difficult, but I always wanted to try something new and hopefully, I am doing well.

Q] There is a popular opinion that consumption of non-vegetarian food is important to beef up and gain strength. You have been a global ambassador of being vegetarian. Kindly enlighten our readers about the significance of not-consuming non-veg.

Answer: My Indian tradition inspires me to stick to vegetarian food. Our ancestors were vegetarian and they lived healthy and happy.

Q] You appear to be a believer of Lord Shiva. How did that help you throughout the challenging period?

Answer: I prefer not to discuss my faith and belief. We must keep our faith within our heart and restrain ourselves from discussing with others. Lord Shiva is beyond understanding, we must not attempt to understand Shiva.

We put too much brain towards understanding each other’s faith, instead we should feel our faith and keep it in our hearts.

Q] Who do you want to fight in the ring? Who is your inspiration in WWE?

Answer: I really want to fight with Roman Reign. Undertaker and John Cena are my all-time favourite and true inspiration. John Cena works really hard off the ring and that reflects in his fights, as well.

Q] When are you getting married?

Answer: My only priority right now is to dedicate my life for the prosperity of my family and nation. I feel free till I am alone and it helps me to make difficult decisions. When I’ll have my wife, and kids, I’ll start giving them priority and my patriotism for my nation will take a back seat. At present, I only want to inspire young Indians and do some amazing work for my country.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude towards the youth of the country for showering so much of love and bestowing trust on me. I would like to promise them that I will do everything to make them proud and serve my country in my best capacity.