Don West is Growing on Me

[ztwhite]

After watching this past weeks Impact, I have to say I think Don West is getting pretty good with the whole heel commentator thing.

At first I thought it would be quite contrived, but he was pretty damn good at it this past week, especially with the whole Suicide / Daniels storyline.

Not sure I like his MEM ass kissing, but you gotta' take the good with the bad I suppose.

Anyone else ready to jump on the Don West bandwagon with me ? I still need a driver because I'm not ready to take on that responsibility yet !

 

[mrarmageddon]

Think he's brilliant, better than Tenay now. His whole Bobby Heenan thing is brilliant (The Brain was my fav commentator ever) and it's just great watching the little changes in his character. One of my favs was when Tenay pointed out that he hadn't slapped Homicides hand following a dive from the ring to the announce desk (as he always used to) and West just saying something like "Oh he dove to the outside, guess I missed it".

Think it's great and long may it continue. If they eventually add Taz to the team thats fine by me (his commentary was a staple in WWE so it seems likely)...just keep West heel!

 

[Miko]

Yeah I'll join the bandwagon, as a heel commentator goes he's pretty damn good. He's a great contrast to Tenay's uber babyface style of commentary. Not got much else to say about him really except that he's not overbearing anymore and actually adds (even if only a little) to the enjoyability of the show.

 

[GSM]

Has Tenay improved ?

Yes, in my opinion he has improved his overall skills.
But he still isn´t at a level where I could say he is good, for me he´s not even close to being good, he´s ok but that´s about it.
He yells too much, he thinks all the heels are great and all the faces are BS which doesn´t make any sense, why should he support them just because they´re heels ?

And it his MEM ass kissing really get´s on my nerves.

He is constantly talking about how the mafia is so smart and so great and how great their strategies are and so on yada yada ....

Of course a little bit heel would be ok but making him an uber heel commentator as a contrast to Tenay doesn´t work that great.

And even though he is supposed to be the heel, he still sells TNA merchandise and talks how he and TNA love their fans so much more, well but that could be my oldschool soul xDD

 

[sevastra82]

His "heel" persona seems a little TOO forced to me. It doesnt come out and/or "flow" naturally. Thats my biggest issue with his "heel" role as commentator.

 

[Shock]

His "heel" persona seems a little TOO forced to me. It doesnt come out and/or "flow" naturally. Thats my biggest issue with his "heel" role as commentator.

Too forced? Doesn't flow well? Of course he does. He's an incredible heel commentator. If anything, WWE's heel commentators are always forced. They always agree with heels and refuse to see sense. At least Don West has a balance between loving heels and common sense. Also, I have a feeling he's been looking on Wrestlezone, because he constantly used to do his raspy yelling thing all the time, where as he barely yells now.

Yes, Don West is great now. I may need to make a sig...

 

[waylonmercy]

This talk of Don West's heel skills increasing to levels that appeal to the internet community has led me to think of one thing. Why doesn't WWE or TNA employ great heel commentators to train wrestlers/announcers in heel psychology. When you think of it Bobby Heenan is the undisputed greatest "manager". I think as good as Don West is at playing a heel it seems he sometimes forgets he's a heel and reverts back to his old self. I remember the last ppv he seemed to go from heel to face many times. I think Don West should definately invest time in watching Heenan footage.

 

[SavageTaker]

Don West doesn't bother me anymore. I actually don't mind listening to TNA commentary anymore. Before when both the commentators were faces it was just unbearable. But now I actually kind of like it and think the heel commentator persona suits him better than the babyface one. As a whole he has vastly improved since he turned heel and I am glad that he doesn't scream at the top of his lungs for every little thing that happens anymore. He should safe the screaming for special things. Like when someone does an incredible spot he can scream and it makes it that much better and it feels more special when it happens.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Sure I'll drive your bandwagon. I'll drive it right off a fucking cliff! Actually I agree with you, but wouldn't that be something funny for a douchebag to say? I used to find him unbearable, but I must admit, he has improved by miles. This past week he actually made me laugh by jumping off the Daniels is Suicide thing and acting like Tenay was an idiot. Lol.

 

[Shock]

I think as good as Don West is at playing a heel it seems he sometimes forgets he's a heel and reverts back to his old self. I remember the last ppv he seemed to go from heel to face many times. I think Don West should definately invest time in watching Heenan footage.

Ah, you see, it's like I said. It's not being face, it's seeing common sense. What makes Don West such a great heel commentator is that his heel-ness is so grand and outstanding, and yet he sees sense and knows when things are wrong. You need to get that.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

Sure I'll drive your bandwagon. I'll drive it right off a fucking cliff! Actually I agree with you, but wouldn't that be something funny for a douchebag to say? I used to find him unbearable, but I must admit, he has improved by miles. This past week he actually made me laugh by jumping off the Daniels is Suicide thing and acting like Tenay was an idiot. Lol.

+1 ditto. i kind of enjoy Don West being heel, now what to do with Tenay is the question now. he's horrible, an ice pick in the ears is more tolerable than his announcing. he was great in WCW because he was the 3rd guy on that team and he'd have a total of probably 3 min talk time throughout the whole show. hell i wouldn't mind having Taz do play by play and be a heel with West. it'd be way better than the Crapsessor Mike Tenay

 

[Kid A]

i like him, he sounds pretty good on there, not as over the top as tenay at times. i miss seeing him sell sports cards on tv tho screaming YOU GOTTA GET THIS MICHAEL JORDAN DIE-CAST ROOKIE CARD!!!!

 

[GameOver]

I can't be the only one that doesn't agree that he's awesome
He's not a heel commentator he's a tweener neither of them can make up there mind from match to match whether him and Teenay are at log-a-heads or not.

A great heel commentator to use an example would be like a Jessie Ventura completely biased. Paint the picture from the point of view of the Heels and get in the face of Gorilla Monsoon or whomever he partnered with. Sure every now and then he praised a face and his partners comments (specially towards the end) but was biased towards the heels 90% of the time. Thats a heel commentator.

Or even a different path would be the Comedy Heel commentator like Bobby The Brain.