They call him Rhyno.

He's a newcomer to the World Wrestling Federation, but already this 250-pound behemoth is one of the league's most ferocious contenders.

Before he made the move from the now-defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling in March, he was the scourge of the league, the reigning champion who struck terror into the heart of everyone he faced.

It wasn't always that way.

Back when he was a student at Dearborn Heights' Annapolis High School, Rhyno was known as Terry Gerin. The 1993 grad was a pretty fair wrestler. But he was no champ, by any means. Never once did he qualify for the state wrestling tournament. "I just didn't give it my all," says the 25-year-old Gerin, who still lives in the area.

My, how things have changed.

On Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena, Rhyno will make his local WWF debut alongside the cream of the WWF crop: The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, Kane, Kurt Angle, Lita, the McMahon Family and Edge are among the luminaries packing the evening's card.

Gerin's not sure exactly when he decided to get serious about wrestling. Maybe it was during that first year out of high school, when he was wrestling in Detroit-area amateur leagues. Or maybe it was when he decided to turn pro and move to Europe, though he spent as much time washing cars and doing construction as he did on the pro wrestling circuit.

"I just knew that it was a dream that I wanted to pursue," says Gerin. "I knew I'd rather try it and fail than never try it at all. I didn't want to be 50 years old and sitting in a rocking chair and wonder what I could have done with my life."

Despite years of grueling physical training, Gerin thinks that some of the most important preparation he had for his wrestling career took place when he was a kid, battling his two big brothers.

"I was the runt of the family," he says, "but I was always fighting with my brothers. We fought a lot up and down the hallway in my mom's house. If you went there today, you could see all the patch jobs from us going through the wall."