Jacob van Oppen - formerly "the strongest man on earth," now a washed-up alcoholic - and his crafty manager, Orsini, make good money staging bogus wrestling matches in small South American towns. When this oddball duo arrives in the unassuming village of Santa Maria, business really takes off: the local newspaper sponsors the fight, and the quiet hamlet becomes plastered with posters announcing an open challenge to a worthy adversary. The ever-resourceful Orsini is sure he can find the right opponent to throw the fight, but fishing in Santa Maria yields a bigger catch than he'd hoped for.