 Aging professional wrestler Milo Stavroupolis comes to nearby Mankato to "fight" the locals. Stavroupolis  promoter, the shrewd Jimmy Hart, convinces Jonathan Garvey to fight the old man ... unaware that the fight was "fixed." But there s even more heartbreak ahead, as Stavroupolis is suffering emotionally (and physically) after years of fighting; his beloved wife, Anna (herself desperately ill) has begged him to retire. The old man - conviced by Jonathan to substitute for him in the upcoming championship bout - gets one last hurrah when a cocky young fighter presses his luck before suffering a fatal heart attack in the ring.