each episode of "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. in an interview with kmtv-tv, austin revealed that the actual location was not the real broken skull ranch, which is owned and operated by austin near tilden, texas, but an area just outside of los angeles designed to represent his ranch. the santa clarita valley's website confirmed the location to be a private property represented by agua dulce movie ranch in agua dulce, california. the contestants are selected from athletic backgrounds, including crossfit, spartan racers, tough mudder, mixed martial arts (mma), and pro wrestling. the contestants are eliminated in a series of competitions with the last one standing facing a tough obstacle course known as the skullbuster.