I was very sad to hear that news that former TNA announcer, Don West passed away from cancer at the age of 59 last week. The former zany pitchman of sports collectibles on late-night TV commercials was diagnosed with brain cancer a few years ago and actually went into remission after a round of treatment, but the cancer eventually returned. His longtime broadcast partner, Mike Tenay confirmed the news publicly, prompting condolences and tributes from many throughout the wrestling world.
Don West wasn’t as polished as Gordon Solie, Mike Tenay, or Jim Ross, but he didn’t need to be.
Initially, especially in the early years of TNA, fans didn’t really know how to take Don West, mostly because he was an unfamiliar face at a time when some other announcers that made a living in pro wrestling for years weren’t offered that same spot with the upstart group in Nashville. As jaded as pro wrestling fans can be, they are also some of the most loyal fans of any genre.
The quirky color commentator was an outsider, and sometimes those experiments yield mixed results. I’m sure Mike Hogewood was a nice guy, but he was an example of why you can’t just put any broadcaster on the show to provide commentary for pro wrestling. Sports entertainment is such a unique entertainment venture that you can’t just copy and paste people from other sports, both in the ring or in the booth.
Ultimately, Don West became endeared by wrestling fans during his 10-year stint as an announcer and merchandise guru for the same reason he was a staple of infomercials. Don West was authentic. In a carny business often based on deception, kindly referred to as “working” most of the time, Don West was the real article. As over-the-top as the guy was, he really was that positive in real life. If I had to guess, I think that’s why wrestling fans have favorable memories of him, the successful formula for so many pro wrestling characters is a version on the person with the volume turned up.
For Don, that was literally and metaphorically during his TNA run.
West, who was a combination of frantic and energetic at the desk, genuinely was that excited to be on the call for TNA Wrestling events. The guy sounded like he was legitimately having the time of his time when some of the best athletes of that generation applied their craft in the ring. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” was often shouted from him during stellar contests from AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Abyss, and others.
Regardless of if he was selling “FACTORY SET!” baseball cards, shilling stuffed animals during the Beanie craze, or raving about bundles of wrestling merchandise, Don West never sounded like a used car salesman or some shady con artist because you could tell that he was legitimately thrilled to get to excitedly sell the merchandise. He wanted viewers and fans to be as excited as he was.
I actually had the chance to met Don West at a TNA house show in 2011. The event was held at the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. A building for the original ECW in the late-90s, the ice rink hosted different wrestling events over the years, but was probably only properly utilized more recently. This was also the venue that Ring Of Honor ran around the same era when it was kept chilly inside to preserve the ice underneath the floor, prompting a Jim Cornette rant that led to him quitting the company.
While TNA often fumbled with their live event advertising or lack thereof and it resulted in dismal house show crowds for much of the Hogan era, the Ice Gardens had a decent crowd for the event. Before the show, there were a few stars signing autographs, and I met Samoa Joe, who was very polite. Joe vs. Bully Ray was a bout that stood out on the card, but the line-up also emphasized why most of the company’s non-televised shows usually didn’t draw big crowds. Similar to why TNA held monthly pay-per-views at the time, it seems like they ran house shows simply because that’s what WWE did so they followed that pattern. Besides the fact that you had to be a diehard fan to search for information on live events since the local marketing was almost non-existent, the house show tours didn’t represent the product that was promoted on Spike TV. Quite simply, the biggest stars in the company didn’t usually work the live events so everything was a secondary presentation. Sting, Hogan, Flair, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, AJ Styles, and Christopher Daniels weren’t at the show. Granted, nobody expected Hogan or Flair to show up for a live event, but the point is, the biggest stars on the roster weren’t at the house shows.
The main event was a stellar contest between Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett. Post-show, Double J was signing autographs, and Don West was there to sell the 8X10s. In true merch mogul fashion, Don announced that he was going to include a Karen Jarrett 8X10 for anyone that purchased the TNA founder’s autograph. If for some reason anyone actually wants a Karen 8X10, I still have it and will send it to you for free. As I was waiting in line to meet Double J, I asked Don if he would sign my ticket and then asked if I could take a picture with him. He was very happy to sign the ticket and thanked me for attending the show. He was as polite and as positive in real-life as he was on television.
If Don West’s impact on professional wrestling was that he was an authentic and positive guy that wanted the audience to have as much fun as he had then I’d say that’s a successful tenure in the industry.
Sincere condolences to Don West’s friends and family at this difficult time.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram & Facebook @jimlamotta89
