VIRGINIA BEACH – Keith Ashbury returned home Sunday night from a weekend of firefighter challenges at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis just in time to join the viewing party at his house.
The 47-year-old Virginia Beach Fire Department Captain was the star attraction.
Family and friends had gathered to see how he did on “Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge,” a CMT reality show competition, and if he won the $10,000 grand prize. The show was recorded last July, but Ashbury hadn’t been able to divulge the results because of his contract.
Spoiler: He didn’t win, but he came close.
Previous: Virginia Beach firefighter tests his physical, mental limits on Steve Austin’s reality TV challenge
The crowd at his house rooted like they were at a football game, Ashbury said Monday in an interview.
“When somebody would ring the bell (to signal a competitor had won a round), all the guys would jump up and scream,” he said.
There were eight contestants, all of them firefighters or police officers, for an episode dedicated to first-responders.
Ashbury, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound workout fanatic, put on quite the show.
He beat out two opponents head-to-head — in the “trench warfare” and “high and dry” obstacles — and was one of two competitors remaining. He had one last guy to beat for a shot at Steve Austin’s obstacle course and the $10,000 prize: a firefighter from Wetumpka, Alabama, named Christian who was 21 years younger than Ashbury.
They faced off in “hard labor,” a challenge in which each had to fill a wheel barrow with 500 pounds of bags, push the load 40 yards and transfer the bags into a seesaw box until the weight caused the box to flip. Then they faced off in a circular pit match with the goal of forcing the other man out of bounds.
The show aired a minute of the match. Ashbury said it lasted three times as long. It went back-and-forth, with Christian, who was listed at 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds and had wrestling experience, eventually getting on top of Ashbury in a ground battle and flipping him over the boundary.
Ashbury recounted the match:
“Near the end, there were a couple moments when I flipped him over I thought I got his leg out, but it was on a sand bag. At that point I was gassed. (The episode was) all done in one day. The wrestling part got to me a little bit. It was a good battle. (Christian) did a good job of keeping his balance and low center of gravity. Every time I lifted him up he was glued to the ground there. I should have been able to bully him out, but that’s where the fatigue comes in. I was just beat.”
Ashbury said he felt like he had the necessary strength “but needed a little more conditioning to get through these events because they were pretty grueling.”
His 8-year-old son had some coaching tips after watching the battle.
“Of course my youngest was like, ‘Dad why didn’t you just throw him out?'” Ashbury said, laughing. “I said, ‘I tried son.’ (My kids) were excited and happy to see their dad on TV.”
Ashbury said he was impressed with the overall production of the show and thrilled with the entire experience, from the taping to the gathering with family and friends.
“I’ve been waiting for this show to come on for nine months now,” he said.
Now it’s on to the next event. Ashbury will compete in a Firefighter Combat Challenge May 20-21 in Virginia Beach.
The entire Skull Buster Challenge episode can be found here.
