He was known briefly as The Green Lizard and then as Colibri (Spanish for 'hummingbird') before his uncle honored him by passing on Rey Misterio ('The Mystery King'). Mysterio did not always have his ring name. My classmates would ask me, 'Why don't you go out for football or baseball?' When I told them all I wanted to do was wrestle, they would laugh.' A Tribute to a Fallen Friend After classes I had a job where I would work and then I would go to my uncle's gym and train three hours a day, every day. 'In high school, I had a pretty full schedule. 'The way my body's chemistry works, no matter how much I ate, no matter how many protein shakes I drank, I couldn't gain any weight,' Mysterio said.

All of this prepared him for the obstacles that lay ahead. He was so small that some promoters initially encouraged him to wrestle as a larger-than-average midget - an offer he declined. Mysterio said he had plenty of doubters when he was trying to launch his pro wrestling career. He was mesmerized by them and American wrestling stars such as Randy 'Macho Man' Savage and Ricky Steamboat. and grew up watching his uncle wrestle and train other luchadores. He is a nephew of Mexican wrestler Rey Misterio Sr. The real-life Oscar Gutierrez, 31, began training around age 8 and wrestled his first match at age 14. He wears a mask, carrying on a long tradition of colorful masked grapplers who have dazzled audience with a lucha libre - or 'free struggle' - style of wrestling, made popular in Mexico, that favors acrobatics and high-flying maneuvers. Mysterio resembles a superhero more than anyone in WWE. This is what I love to do.' From Laughter to Autographs

You should be here.' But I'm not like that. I'm not one of these people who say, 'I should be here at this point in my career,' or 'I should be at this place right now.' I've had people say to me, 'Rey, you deserve much better than this. 'All my life - all I ever wanted to do - was just wrestle. Even Mysterio never believed that he would one day be part of the main event at pro wrestling's biggest annual show. Now he is fighting for the world title in a triple-threat match against World Champion (and 1996 Olympic gold medalist) Kurt Angle and fellow contender Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 22.

Rey mysterio wrestlemania 22 mask