An attempt to purchase beer becomes a nightmare for underage friends Chase, Jake and Dillon when Chase ends up dead, Jake gets shot in the back, and Dillon - a championship wrestler - goes to prison for manslaughter. Released after ten years, Dillon's greeted by Jake, who lines him up with a job and introduces him to the world of minor league MMA fighting. Due to Jake's outstanding gambling debt, Dillon agrees to three fights to cover it and literally save Jake's life but finds himself caught between gangsters, dirty cops, a shady promoter, a snide parole officer and Jake's disapproving sister.

Vince Everett is serving a one-year jail sentence for manslaughter. While in the big house, his cellmate, a former country singer, introduces him to the record business. Everett takes to it so well that he decides to become a singer when he gets out. However, he is quickly disillusioned by the record business. But with the help of a new friend, he decides to form his own label, and soon becomes an overnight sensation. But when he becomes a superstar, will his desire for fame and money cause him to forget the people who got him there?