Don West: Promotion or Demotion?

[Planty]

As regular watchers know, Don West has recently been replaced by Taz on the commentary booth, along side Mike Tenay (Personally, I always wanted them to get a third commentator who had the surname Ling so it would be Tenay-West-Ling).

Stupid joke aside, serious business.

Its been said by many that Don West has got a promotion, now working with merchandising? But has he really?

It's a tough call. Salary aside, is it a better job to be one of the voices of TNA with your commentary often being engraved in every fan's minds when remembering the company's greatest moments? Or is it a better job to know that with many products... for example you see a fan that is wearing a t-shirt in the arena or is holding a figure... you've had a hand in selling that product and boosting sales?

Salary aside, has Don West actually been promoted for his hard work? Or has he been demoted for the sake of a big name star taking his place?

I'd say its a demotion. Its a major co-incidence that West who already had a role online with his deals, has been kicked off commentary only weeks after Taz has joined the company. This is a cheap way to get him off the booth and try and keep him happy, whilst giving Taz a role he is comfortable with. I'd personally enjoyed West's commentary recently as a slightly heel-biased voice. There are so many moments I can recall, such as him marking out for the Mick Foley vs Rocky Balboa Cardboard Cut-Out "match". I think as a fan, I'm much more likely to remember that rather than looking at a t-shirt for Cody Deaner or Shark Boy and thinking that somehow Don West has boosted the sales.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Marty2Hotty]

I'd say demotion. I don't think he wanted to be kicked off. He was really doing well as a heel commentator and developing as his own. Taz hasn't really added too much (in my opinion) on his first week. He basically is just a face commentator. If they just added him to West/Tenay I think it would make thing interesting as West will be the jealous guy and he'd be egging Taz for joining the team.

I think TNA just wanted to make it look better by saying West was promoted rather than demoted. He's off TV, not sure he's getting paid more or not, but I think he had a good time commentating the shows.

I dont know who's decision it was to just replace West with Taz (who just left WWE). Why not have a three-man commentating team - it'd actually make the show more interesting as well.

Maybe down the line, West can come out and get on the mic being pissed off at being replaced by Taz and slap Taz around. That'd be hilarious as Taz can kick West's ass... That may lead to a match or something with the winner getting the commentator seat

But the DOA aka Foley might say they have to work together like it or not, creating tension, but good TV??? thoughts?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

To be honest, I'm leaning towards demotion although who can ultimately say for sure? Don West has been TNA commentator since the company began and it just seems strange that he'd just be promoted so quickly and so suddenly.

I may be wrong on this but, I think if it were a "geniune" promotion that TNA might build it up a little bit. Promote the fact that there's going to be a change in commentators and that Don West has been given a big promotion within TNA. But, as TNA just suddenly dropped Taz in like a bolt of lightning, it just makes me wonder. As I said, I might be wrong about the whole thing, but I just can't help but feel that West may have been given an ultimatum. Either he takes this other job or he's out of the company altogether.

 

[smalltownfan]

I have another word for Don West's new job...reassignment. According to reports, he is in a job that better suits his talents. He did a good job at the announcer's table, but he just didn't have the insight that a former pro wrestler like Taz would have. West hasn't wrestled once as far as I know and Taz has all that wealth of experience in the ring where he can not only explain a move, but the significance behind it and the reason it's being used at that time. Also, Taz has genuine WWE-trained announcing experience having called all those matches on SmackDown and ECW where he did an awesome job. Taz brings instant credibility to the announce table and I think he and Tenay will make a very good duo and will make watching IMPACT more enjoyable.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

From what I heard the merchandising market for TNA is branching out and West who has a degree in merchandising is being placed at the head of the branching. They are basically modeling that branch after Don West. If that was me who got to reshape a company's branch no matter what branch it was and get a raise I would call it a big promotion whether I was on TV or not.

 

[sevastra82]

I have another word for Don West's new job...reassignment. According to reports, he is in a job that better suits his talents. He did a good job at the announcer's table, but he just didn't have the insight that a former pro wrestler like Taz would have. West hasn't wrestled once as far as I know and Taz has all that wealth of experience in the ring where he can not only explain a move, but the significance behind it and the reason it's being used at that time. Also, Taz has genuine WWE-trained announcing experience having called all those matches on SmackDown and ECW where he did an awesome job. Taz brings instant credibility to the announce table and I think he and Tenay will make a very good duo and will make watching IMPACT more enjoyable.

I pretty much see it this way as well. It was plain obvious that West just wasnt cut out for the job. He didnt know how to sound legit and real. So I dont call it a "demotion" either, just a re-assignment. It wasnt a step-up or a step-down for him...more like a step-sideways. Especially considering you get a guy like Taz who does a fantastic job on the headset.

 

[gd]

I think this has to be seen as a demotion. Being part of a wrestling company, I think that you would much rather want to be on TV than be working in the marketing department. I'm sure it is much more fun and exciting to be one of the stars of a nationally televised show. He may be getting paid a little more, but I doubt it. I think that most people out there, Don West and TNA included, know that this was a demotion, but they are just trying to spin it to make it look better.

 

[X]

It's clearly a demotion. Going from an on-air personality to a behind the scenes rep for the merchandise department? How could that be anything other than a demotion? What happened here is rather obvious. TNA compared the skills of Taz and Don West on commentary, and they decided that Taz was better. Clearly a demotion, they basically told Don "Thanks, but we've found someone better".

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I have another word for Don West's new job...reassignment. According to reports, he is in a job that better suits his talents. He did a good job at the announcer's table, but he just didn't have the insight that a former pro wrestler like Taz would have. West hasn't wrestled once as far as I know and Taz has all that wealth of experience in the ring where he can not only explain a move, but the significance behind it and the reason it's being used at that time. Also, Taz has genuine WWE-trained announcing experience having called all those matches on SmackDown and ECW where he did an awesome job. Taz brings instant credibility to the announce table and I think he and Tenay will make a very good duo and will make watching IMPACT more enjoyable.

Where as I agree with the consensus that it is a demotion, we once again see the debate taking place of the role of color commentators.

I do NOT, under any circumstance, derive any entertainment from the color commentator being a faceless Analyst. Rather, at the end of the day, I want the Color Commentator to entertain me and provide for an enjoyable broadcast. How anyone derives entertainment out of the Analysts that WWE has today, is beyond me. They provide very, very little to today's broadcasts.

The Play by Play commentator used to do Play by Play and Analyze from the Face's point of view, while the Heel Color Commentator would analyze from the Heel's point of view, and argue with the Play by Play commentator. It was a successful formula for many years and would continue to be if it was continued today.

Taz was not entertaining in the least last week on Impact, and it's a shame they opted to copy WWE and go back to the Analyst route.

West was demoted, and perhaps it was a political move by Carter as well, since it was known that Jarrett was in his corner. Other than giving him a new title for something he already did and maybe a little bit more money, I don't know how anyone can necessarily view this as anything but a demotion for West. It just pains me to see Taz, of all people and who I regarded as a terribly boring commentator (Analyst) in WWE, take his place.

 

[Arrynboot]

Whether it's a demotion or not, I think we should let the next few months unfold and see what level of entertainment Taz brings to impact and what Don West does for merch sales before casting judgement. I for one like the idea of new merchandise, TNA has just changed distributors for their DVD's here in Australia and I can't wait to see what Don West and Madman can produce in this new arrangement. I hope Don can make more money for TNA and maybe they will start touring more and increasing their fanbase. Give it a bit of time and we may all benefit from it in the long run.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

I am going with the majority to say that this is a demotion for the company. He went from going to wrestling journalism to the merchandise department very swiftly & quickly. Seriously, merchandise? Could TNA put the loyality & experience with TNA such as Don West into a higher position with the company? Wouldn't he be able to help the TNA scouting team as he is on site every wrestling show & sees first hand who should be there & who shouldn't?

Anyway, Taz is a great commentator in his own right & brings something special to the table. His skills on the mic are far greater than Don West in my opinion as he shows the excitement towards the show & gets the viewers to increase their happiness with how he speaks. Listening to Don West & Mike Tenay makes you think analytically about the product. With the recent switch of Taz & Mike Tenay, it has become more of a self-promotion for the company to reel in new viewers due to how "exciting" TNA is. And this is a the best reason for the switch as it subconsciously allows those who aren't regulars tuning into TNA not only hear the familiar sounds of the SmackDown commentator, but it plays on the emphasis that what you see in the ring is professional wrestling at its finest.

Despite this, I would have loved for Don to stay as the commentator. He did a great job & has been loyal for the company. However, like with Joey Styles... business called & he answered the phone.