NXT 196

November 20, 2013 – Winter Park, Florida

The show starts with the return of champion Bo Dallas. JBL comes out to congratulate him on being a great ambassador for the company. Sami Zayn comes out and demands to be reinstated in NXT after his bullshit suspension. JBL thinks it over and lets him back in NXT. Zayn wants another shot. Bo Dallas says, “Don’t you remember Sami, we already did this?” Which I like to believe he was saying about every single storyline in NXT. JBL sets up a Beat the Clock challenge to determine Dallas’ challenger.

Alexander Rusev def. Colin Cassady [Beat the Clock Challenge]
Technically this is the Set the Clock Challenge. Enzo Amore is injured and Alexa Bliss is the ring announcer and the world feels just a little bit better. Lana finally gets a name after debuting like a month ago. Cass got to look tough as hell because these two had to rely on Cass fighting off the Accolade in order to stretch out to just over five minutes. Doesn’t make sense based on where both characters are, but it did make for a better match. **¼

Kassius Ohno def. Tyler Breeze [Beat the Clock Challenge]
These guys did a really good job of working the gimmick. Ohno winning is a bit of a puzzler as he’s persona non grata in WWE right now, but hey, a fun match is a fun match. The new time to beat is 4:48. **¾

Camacho & Hunico def. Tye Dillinger & Chris Rockwell
Dillinger never even tagged into the match. Camacho & Hunico want the tag titles. I don’t review squashes. Later, the Ascension are quick to accept the challenge .N/A

Backstage, Lana lets Ohno know that Rusev is pissed that Ohno beat his time.

Adrian Neville def. Aiden English [Beat the Clock Challenge]
Damn, these guys had me biting my nails. Neville got the pin with three seconds to go. Beat the Clock is an awesome gimmick. **¾

Sami Zayn def. Leo Kruger [Beat the Clock Challenge]
It wasn’t until the last minute that it felt like these guys were worried about the time. As such, it wasn’t as much fun. Zayn pinned Kruger just as the clock reached zero, so Zayn and Neville will fight in a Number One Contender match next week to see who will face Dallas the following week for the title. **