Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge

Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge
Genre	Competition, Reality television
Created by	Stone Cold Steve Austin
Presented by	Stone Cold Steve Austin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Original release
Network	Country Music Television
Release	July 6, 2014 (2014-07-06)
Related
Redneck Island

Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge is an American reality television competition show that premiered on July 6, 2014, on Country Music Television. It is created and hosted by former professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Series overview

Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge brings a group of eight contestants, either all men or all women, to the Broken Skull Ranch to compete in a series of physical challenges. The contestants are eliminated in a series of competitions with the last one standing facing a tough obstacle course known as the Skullbuster. If the contestant successfully completes the Skullbuster within the time allotted, they win a $10,000 cash prize. However, if they do not complete the course within the timeframe or quit the course at any time, the previous person who set the Skullbuster time to beat receives the $10,000.

Elimination challenges

In each episode, the eight contestants face off in head-to-head competitions in a single-elimination bracket format. The first bracket match-ups are chosen at random. Some of the competitions featured include the following:

• Trench Warfare - the two contestants start at opposite ends of a trench that is 45 feet long and 3 1/2 feet deep, filled with water. On a signal, they both jump into the trench and must use any means necessary to get past the opponent and ring a bell at the opposite end of the trench. The first one to ring the bell wins.
• The Pulverizer - a 120-foot long course is laid out with a series of three sets of two weight sacks over the course, a rope at one end, and a metal sled at the other. Male contestants are given three series of two 50-pound weight sacks, while female contestants are given two 5-pound sacks, two 10-pound sacks, then two 15-pound sacks. On a signal, the contestants must first run the rope to the sled and attach it. They then run back and pull the sled completely to each series of weights. They then run to the weights and load them into the sled then run back to the rope pull area. This is repeated for all three series of weights. The first one to pull the fully-loaded sled across a line wins.
• The Junkyard/The Pit - a 120-foot long course is laid out with two barriers in the middle, and a large mount of various scrap objects at the beginning, such as rolled chain-link fencing, small girders, and gas cylinders. Male contestatns have approximately 600 pounds of total junk, while female contestants have approximately 300 pounds. On a signal, the contestants must first move each piece of junk over or under the barriers and to the opposite end of the course. Once that is completed, the contestant moves on to The Pit where they wait for the opponent to complete the course. The Pit is a dirt ring resembling an amateur wrestling circle. Once both players have entered The Pit, another signal is given, and the two contestants wrestle each other with the first person able to force their opponent out of the ring being declared the winner. The style of The Pit is very similar to the Conquer portion of the Breakthrough & Conquer event of American Gladiators. This contest is featured as a final elimination challenge to determine an overall winner.

The Skullbuster

After a day's rest, the winner of the elimination challenges moves on to face the Skullbuster, a 1/2-mile long obstacle course with a series of ten obstacles over the course. The course was designed with elements of CrossFit, Spartan Racers, Tough Mudder, mixed martial arts (MMA), and pro wrestling. The obstacles of the course are as follows:

• Backbreaker - carry a 30-pound log down 1/4 mile of road
• Shredder - crawl under 30 feet of barbed wire
• Mudbath - cross a rope swing over a pit of mud onto a landing area. If the contestant falls in the mud, they must restart this obstacle
• Spiderweb - climb over a 60-foot section of cargo net suspended between two containers
• Nutcracker - negootiate a series of a 4-inch wide balance beam, a balance post, a teeter-totter, and three more posts all over a sand pit. If the contestant falls into the sand at any point along this series, they must restart this obstacle.
• Commando Crawl - climb across a 24-foot long suspended rope crawl which is 12 feet off the ground. If the contestant falls off the rope at any time, they must restart this obstacle.
• Wallbusters - clinb over three military-style wall climbs of 4 feet, 6 feet, and 8 feet respectively
• Deep Freeze - climb through a pit with water at 35 degrees Farenheit and two beams in the middle, going over the first beam and under the second
• Heartbreak Hill - climb a 100-foot hill with a 40 degree incline, circle around a post at the top, and run back down
• Ropeburn - climb a 17-foot vertical rope climb up to a bell and ring it, thus ending the course

The first contestant to successfully complete all elements of the Skullbuster wins $10,000 and sets the time to beat for all future contestants. Any future contestant must complete the Skullbuster in less time in order to win the $10,000 and set a new time to beat. If a future contestant fails to beat the time or does not complete the course, the previous successful contestant wins another $10,000 for every unsuccessful effort. In the beginning of the series, if a contestant did not complete the Skullbuster and there was no set time to beat, no one won any prize.

External Links

• Official website
• Steve Austin, Broken Skull Ranch