Mike Tenay reflects on the time he spent with Don West.
For many years, Mike Tenay and Don West were the voices of TNA Wrestling. Calling some of the promotion's greatest moments, including the debuts of Kurt Angle, Sting, Christian Cage, and more, Tenay and West formed a great rapport on screen and a close friendship behind-the-scenes as they helped TNA flourish in its early years.
Sadly, the wrestling world recently suffered a significant loss as Don West passed away following his battle with lymphoma at the age of 59 in December 2022.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Mike Tenay reflected on Don's unique approach to announcing, citing his unfiltered exuberance and passion as something that wasn't coming through on other wrestling programs then.
"Well, I think simply his energy [was Don's best trait]. If we look back on the history of wrestling announcers, and I'm willing to be corrected here, I don't think there really was anybody before that was really like him, from that energy standpoint," said Tenay. "He took the listener, initially, he took them out of their comfort zone."
Tenay shared that Don was hired to be the voice of the fans, and upon listening back to a show, "The Professor" realized he would need to up his energy if he were to compete with the booming personality beside him.
"He was hired to be the voice of the fan, which, again, right at the start, I'm, I'm not sure, thinking back on it, that I thought that he was going to succeed right from the start, but when you see someone's energy level, which is one thing, combined with the passion that they have for it, I think that's where it's different from somebody who's just playing a role and being loud," said Tenay. "I remember; I don't think I probably watched the first couple of shows back until maybe we were three or four in. I remember watching back one of the shows, and I came to a conclusion, almost immediately, that I needed to get my volume level up if I was going to compete and if I wasn't going to be left on the side of the road, because you had to have that. I think, probably, that might have been off-putting for people and viewers as well, just because a lot of it was a little extra loud than they were used to. Maybe a little over the top, maybe a little more salesmanship from Don than they were used to. Probably, as I think back on it, the greatest compliment that we got came from you Dave, which didn't come until just really the last couple of years. That was when AXS TV started replaying some of the older TNA and some of the older IMPACT shows, and you would explain to me that you had watched the first run IMPACT show, and you essentially started to go back to work. You had left the TV on, and as you sat there, you heard that energy. You heard that passion from Mike Tenay and Don West, and I think, not to put words in your mouth, but I think your level of appreciation for what we did grew greatly because you realized at that point that nobody really was doing that kind of an announcing job."
Mike Tenay also spoke about when he started to realize that he and West were hitting a stride as a duo, saying it took about a year until he really felt as though they were working as a cohesive unit.
"I can't narrow it down in terms of that with Don to say, 'It was Slammiversary 2003, where we clicked, and we looked each other in the eye and said…' I think it was the process of growing together and realizing along the way that we were getting better. We were clicking, and then you reach a comfort with your partner," said Mike. "I think probably rather than say a specific show, if I had to narrow it down to a specific time, I would think probably about a year or so in where it really felt like we both were working in tandem. The personal friendship and relationship that you have with your broadcast partner can be a great help. I don't think that it's I don't think it's in the announcer's handbook that you need to be — the play-by-play guy doesn't need to be best friends with his color man, but shit, it sure helps. Just because you know that you guys are out there on that island. I can't say one specific show, but I think probably somewhere between, you know, six to nine months to a year in. The familiarity and the friendship that's grown. That's when you know that you're hitting your stride."
Tributes to Don West came through on all sides of the wrestling landscape. Even though he never worked for WWE, Don West was even mentioned on the December 30 episode of Friday Night SmackDown by Michael Cole.
Fans can read more tributes to Don West at this link.
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