WWE Birmingham Review

As Isaac gets older I have noticed that he is becoming more decisive about what he likes and doesn’t like and over the last two weeks he has been very lucky to go to two events which he follows with a passion – Doctor Who Festival and WWE Live.

We were super lucky to be invited to WWE when it visited Birmingham and it was bigger and better than when we saw it come to Bournemouth earlier this year.

Held in the Genting Arena it was a half hour hike from the car park to the venue, but surrounded by excited WWE fans it didn’t feel that long. Inside there were merchandise stands selling tour t-shirts, masks, championships belts and other memorabilia. Isaac had brought his Lucha Dragon mask to wear but Daddy bought him a Finn Bala Mask and a children’s t-shirt too. We were a bit disappointed by the children’s range as they only had one style of t-shirt and it was still ten times too big for Isaac – he will grow into it one day!

WWE Birmingham

The venue soon filled up, the lights dimmed and the music started pumping at full volume…………it was time to begin. The announcer introduced the first wrestler to the stage, WWE legend Ric Flair, who proceeded to whip the crowd into a frenzy before the first fight began with New Day and the Dudley Boys taking to the stage.

WWE BIRMINGHAM

As with all WWE flights it was mixed with acrobatics, humour and playing up to the audience. There were lots of shouts of “We want tables” and they didn’t disappoint.

Next on stage was the self-styled hearthrob The Miz who was met with boos and jeers from the crowd, followed by Cesaro who was met with cheers. It was a fun fight to watch as no winner was clear until Cesaro finally got the upper hand and finished with his famous Cesaro spin move where he managed to spin The Miz over 30 times!!

WWE Birmingham

The Irish contingent were next with Finn Balour vs Shaemus. It was a feisty fight although Shaemus did stop at one point to wind up the crowd who had been shouting “You look stupid” in reference to his quirky hairstyle.

WWE Birmingham

Next up was probably my favourite match of the evening for its pure comedy. Bo Dallas came into the ring all cocky and was beaten in seconds by Curtis Axel. A little shocked that he had been beaten so quickly he requested another opponent and R-Truth arrived. Bo Dallas then proceeded to do the cheesiest dance off I have ever seen to “I’m too sexy” and was completely out-danced by R-Truth who was dancing to “Billie Jean” with the fans were cheering for him. Dallas then attacked Truth. Truth was down momentarily, but rushed back to his feet delivering the “Lie Detector” to Dallas, picking up a victory. Poor Bo was beaten twice that evening and walked off humiliated.

WWE Birmingham

The final bout of the first half was Kane vs Big Show and I have to admit that it did go on a little too long. It did feel like they were stringing it out, but the boys seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

WWE Birmingham

After a much-needed break it was straight back into the action and my elder travelling companions, Hubby, Kian and my BIL Mark were very excited by the fact it was the Diva’s up next. British girl Paige was to referee and it was the Brie Bella and Alesha Fox vs Charlotte and Becky Lynch. It all got very feisty very quickly and even Paige joined in with the fighting at one point, triggering a male ref to come legging it onto stage.

WWE Birmingham

It was now the turn of Tyler Breeze who was accompanied on stage by Summer Rae. He was to fight Dolph Ziggler and Summer tried to get in on the action by wacking Ziggler around the head with her stiletto. She was sent packing and Ziggler finally won the match after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing.

WWE Birmingham

The final match of the evening saw Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens by disqualification in a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, although half the WWE Wrestlers we had seen throughout the evening ended up in the ring for one final brawl, much to the delight of the crowd.

WWE Birmingham

For the final results of the evening see the WWE Live Events page here.

Splish Splash About in a Brand New Range of Waterproof Jackets!

Perfect for fun and outdoor adventures, Splash About’s new range of outdoor clothing, Splish Splash About is practical, bold and beautiful.

Their first capsule collection features raincoats, stomp suits and rain capes suitable for children aged from 12months up to 8 years. The range is designed to stand out on grey wet days and the collection is available in a pinky-purple Dolly print, a green-blue Dinosaur design or classic Mulberry and Navy with a Wellington Boot motif.

We were sent the classic Navy design for Isaac to review and he really put it through its paces. Isaac is 7, although small for his age and the age 7-8 is a little large for him, but during winter he will have plenty of room to layer up underneath.

Splish Splash About

The raincoat is designed with a contrasting orange inner towelling lining, tapered cuffs and a fully lined hood. The breathable fabric keeps warmth in and wet out and the raincoats have a longer lip at the back for a ‘no more wet bum’ feature to protect little bottoms from damp benches, swings and slides.

Splish Splash About

The coat has kept him dry on some very wet school runs recently and survived a wet and muddy walk through Badbury Rings where Isaac thought it would be a great idea to roll down the hill!  Because the The Splish Splash About collection is made from high quality, hard-wearing PU fabric, it is wipe clean or machine washable at 30 degrees too.

I also love the look of the Stomp Suits which are perfect for children with a passion for jumping in puddles! With foot stirrups to ensure legs stay in place, the suits have a hard wearing double zip system which makes for easy step in, step out dressing. The stomp suits are lightweight but fully lined ensuring your little one stays warm and dry. Perfect for post-swimming; the toweling lining is warm, soft, bobble and fluff-free making it ideal for sensitive skin – and it’s also absorbent for loose wet hair. The range is available now from www.splashabout.com.

 

The Doctor Who Festival 2015

We are huge fans of Doctor Who and last weekend we were lucky enough to go to the Dr Who Festival at London’s ExCel and discovered the secrets behind the show in the extravaganza of cast and crew panels, behind-the-scenes demonstrations, workshops, stunts, explosions, sets, monsters, props and costumes.

I was unsure what to expect having been disappointed by MCM Comic Con a few weeks before, but I needn’t have worried as we had the most amazing day.

You don’t have to be a fully fledged Whovian to attend, there was something to see for all fans, young and old and there was a good mix of families as well as people in full cosplay costumes – I took my own little Doctor in the form of Isaac.

The first thing we did was got our bearings and collected a show planner which had all the events listed to help plan our day. There were a mix of different shows in various sections and the first one we attended was the Millenium FX Show with special guest Mark Gatiss who has not only acted in the show, he was Richard Lazarus, but he writes for the show too and was the brains behind this weeks episode, Sleep No More. We found out how some of the monsters were made, watched a challenge to design a new Doctor Who monster and name it, as well as meeting a Mire and a special guest appearance from a Sandman!

Doctor Who Festival

It was really interesting to see how these Monsters were created and one lucky audience member even got to try on a mask.

Once it had finished we headed outside to explore and Isaac spotted Davros in his hospital room, so we queued briefly to go in and see him. The attention to detail on the model was out of this world and it looked very realistic.

Dr Who Festival

On our brief look around before the show started, Isaac spotted LEGO Dimensions and was desperate to have a go. It was really quiet so he took his opportunity to have a play whilst I had a much-needed cup of tea. LEGO Doctor Who sets and LEGO Dimensions are already on the boys Christmas list but I can see me playing it too. You can fly the Tardis, which changes inside depending which Doctor who are playing as and take a ride on K9 if you choose.

LEGO DR WHO

Isaac drew in quite a crowd when he was playing it, so we decided to let the others have a go and went off to explore. We found stage one where Danny Hargreaves and his team from Real SFX were showcasing the techniques they use to create physical special effects for the show. They were funny and engaging and one lucky boy even got to shoot a Cyberman.

Doctor Who Festival

We then headed over to their stand where they had snow billowing from a machine as well as lots of substances on display that they use to simulate ice, rock and glass which Isaac enjoyed handling. He had the most fun with his sonic screwdriver in the smoke machine though.

Doctor Who Festival

It was then time for the next two shows – Meet the Writers who included Toby Whithouse, Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat followed by Meet the Cast and although the rooms were full, they split attendees into two groups, with two chances to see the shows so it wasn’t over-run.

Sadly I didn’t get picked to ask my question, but it was a really informative and fun couple of sessions with a few spoilers for up-coming episodes and for those of you missing the sonic screwdriver, it will be back.

Dr Who Festival

There were lost of questions from the audience and the answers caused one or two foot in mouth moments by some of the cast which was hilarious and Toby Hadoke who was comparing did an excellent job of keeping them in line.

Doctor Who Festival

The show was over far too quickly for my liking and we headed back out to explore some more. We found the props and costumes area which was not as large as the one in the Doctor Who Experience Tour, but did feature costumes worn in the latest series and of course those famous Osgood boxes.

Doctor Who Festival

Millenium FX also had a stand showcasing some of their famous alien models and Isaac even got to try on the head of the Mire which was almost as big as him!

Doctor Who Festival

Production Village was next on the list and we got a look behind the scenes of the Doctor Who Viking set and were put into the shoes of the production team. I cannot believe how many assistant directors there are on top of sound, costume, make-up, vision and more. We found out the team start stupidly early in the morning and are last to leave after a busy day of filming but the job sounds like lots of fun too. They even let Isaac try on the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses and sit in the Directors chair.

Doctor Who Festival

Sadly we ran out of time to attend Drama School, where we could have learned how to be the perfect monster or act out a scene from the audio books and Isaac wasn’t keen on testing his knowledge in the fan challenge area as he has only watched the first 4 series. There was a shopping village where we found a Tardis hoody for Isaac and the perfect Christmas jumper for me and a chance to have a photograph on a green screen and in an iconic set………do you recognise it?

Doctor Who Festival

The highlight of our day was getting a photograph taken with Missy (aka Michelle Gomez). Sadly all the Doctor and Clara pictures were sold out before we got our tickets so it is wise to book early if you are planning to go next year. Ingrid Oliver came bounding into the room a one point and I didn’t get my camera out quick enough to take a picture, but I did get some of the amazing cosplay costumes people were wearing.

Doctor Who Festival

If you are a Doctor Who fan than I highly recommend this festival, we cannot wait for next year.

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