Don West, one of the most iconic commentators in TNA/Impact history, passed away on December 30th, 2022 at age 59 following a long bout with brain cancer. I
n the days since his passing, tributes have come from all over the wrestling business, including even WWE as Michael Cole acknowledged Don West’s passing on SmackDown.
By all accounts, Don West was one of the nicer personalities in wrestling, despite having little to no knowledge of it prior to starting with TNA Impact in 2002.
And because he took the business seriously in his role, he earned rare praise from Jim Cornette, who joined in on the tributes on his Jim Cornette Experience podcast.
“Don West was didn’t have a gimmick; he was a gimmick” – Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette is known for having very strong opinions about wrestling (and other topics). His podcast centers on Cornette skewering various happenings in the wrestling business as well as his comedic anecdotes and unique vocabulary (ex: “as phony as a football bat”).
But this wasn’t a segment for jokes; rather, it saw Jim Cornette giving an honest and respectful tribute to a commentator that went above and beyond to sell something that he was unfamiliar with (i.e. pro wrestling).
“Everybody loved Don West and you couldn’t not if you ever met him. And that way, you know he and he was even good-natured. He took some heat early on from people because he had absolutely no wrestling experience. You know, Jeff I think, and his dad Jerry, one or the other or both had seen Don on the home shopping channel.
Don had even been parodied on Saturday Night Live. [Brian mentions Don was on the Shop at Home channel] I’m not fluent in all the various shopping channels, but whatever the big one was, and he was the star of it.]”
But aside of Don West’s personal character, Jim Cornette also praised his commitment to his role as a commentator. Cornette noted that Don West didn’t look down on wrestling or dismiss it as phony.
And because West brought the same seriousness and dedication to wrestling as he did to his work on TV shopping channels, Cornette thinks that West ought to be praised for doing so.
“He was a gimmick before he got involved in wrestling and I say that in a nice way. Not like he had a gimmick; Don West was a gimmick, back in the good old days when guys were gimmicks rather than had them.
He had that drive and that oomph, and the yelling. He had that voice and I don’t know how he kept it, the voice, the ability to do that, and the infectious enthusiasm. He could pitch anything and sell anything, which is what they liked with Don’s work on Shop At Home.”
If you use any of the quotes from this article credit the Jim Cornette Experience with a h/t back to Inside The Ropes.