Don West (sportscaster)
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| Don West | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Don West |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1] |
| Billed weight | 181 lb (82 kg/12.9 st) [1] |
| Born | June 20, 1963 [1] Chicago, United States [2] |
| Resides | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
| Debut | June 19, 2002 |
Donald "Don" Ronald West (born June 20, 1963) is an American professional wrestling color commentator and television personality. In the late 1990s, West achieved a degree of fame for his loud, energetic, abrasive sales pitches on late night television, with his persuasive style turning him into a minor pop culture figure. Since 2002, West has worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, providing color commentary alongside Mike Tenay during episodes of TNA Impact! and TNA pay-per-views, He also appears on the Nashville, Tennessee WNSR radio station [3]
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[edit] Career
West was born in Chicago. He graduated from Purdue University, where he majored in sports broadcasting. [2]
[edit] Shop at Home Network
West initially became involved with television shopping when he applied for a job with the Shop at Home Network as the host of a sports memorablia show, Sports Collectibles. Despite his degree in sports broadcasting (and the fact that his brother Dale was the chief financial officer of the Shop at Home Network), West was rejected on the basis of his "scrabbly voice". In 1991, West began selling knives on television, and in March 1993, he was finally given the job with the Shop at Home Network that he had applied for. Between 1993 and 2001, sales rose from $3 million USD to $150 million USD. In addition to sports memorabilia, West also pitched products such as Beanie Babies and Pokémon collectibles. [2]
Between November 1996 and March 1997, Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan parodied West and his co-host, Eddy Lewis, on three episodes of Saturday Night Live. [4] [2]
West amicably left the Shop at Home Network in 2001, and began hosting a sports talk show on the WNSR radio station. [2]
In 2000, West was contacted by World Championship Wrestling booker Vince Russo, who invited him to join the company. West declined the offer in favor of "the sure thing" (WCW was purchased by its chief competitor, the World Wrestling Federation, in March 2001). [2]
According to the December 9, 2007 episode of Shop At Home's "The Sports Room" show with hosts Kevin Hite and Shawn Leflar, Don West will be a guest host on the December 16, 2007 episode of "The Sports Room" show. Host Kevin Hite made the announcement, to the dismay of co-host Shawn Leflar.
[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
In 2002, West was hired by Jeff Jarrett, who had been introduced to West by Vince Russo, to serve as the color commentator for his newly-formed professional wrestling promotion, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. West made his professional wrestling debut on June 19, 2002, commentating on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view alongside Ed Ferrara and Mike Tenay. Ferrera departed TNA in August 2002, reducing the commentary team to Tenay and West. [2]
Aside from commentating, West accompanies Jeremy Borash on the YouTube-based show TNA Today, where he promotes new TNA merchandise and special packages, called 'Don West's Insane Daily Deals'.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Don West at Cagematch.de. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Nation, R. (January 31, 2006). The evolution of Don West. Canoe.ca. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
- ^ Don West at TNAWrestling.com. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
- ^ Don West at the SNL Archives. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
[edit] External links
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