to prove them and yourself wrong which i believe i did by becoming a track and field star he said this was followed by the million dollar arm competition where people thought an indian kid could never sign a professional contract in the united states of america which i went on to do and proved the entire world wrong i will always keep this criticism close to myself as motivation to improve my training even today an emotional rinku told timesofindiacom rinkus baseball journey started well but was hampered by injuries he won his first professional baseball game in 2009 in 2010 he also met then us president barack obama at a white house heritage month eventhe also played in the dominican summer league and then joined the west virginia power of the south atlantic league in july 2011 however injuries halted his baseball journey rinku struggled with injuries day after day and missed the entire 2013 season and then missed the 2014 and 2015 seasons as well due to surgery and a broken elbow after resigning with the pirates in 2015 rinku tried to drag his baseball career but finally accepted his fatehis next career call was one which perhaps stunned everyone in 2018 rinku decided to become a wwe wrestlerwhen i was deciding on whether i should leave baseball or continue i took some time off from it to gather my thoughts and consider what could is next for me i still remember the night i was sitting in the chicago marriott at 2 am in the morning trying to decide what is next for me i couldnt think of anything except joining wwe i was looking for something that gives me the opportunity to open my heart and share it with the world i was thinking of entertainment and when you think of entertainment there is nothing bigger than being featured on wwe rinku told timesofindiacom the road from the baseball diamond to the wwe ring has been an exciting one for the 31yearold in january 2018 he signed a contract with wwe and went on to make his debut at an nxt event in tampa he lost that fight against kassius ohno but the indian went on to win his next fight in september this year it nxt win got me very emotional i felt that day as that i was a performer and an athlete you could feel the energy from the audience as they cheer you on i started crying that day because i was missing my mother and wished she was there to see it happen i experienced a range of emotions that day but of course in the end it was truly a memorable day for me rinku said my baseball career has helped me in many ways in wwe most importantly performing in front of thousands of people without being nervous during my baseball career i have performed confidently in front of more than fifteen to twenty thousand people the feeling