West first came to prominence as a host for the Shop at Home Network in the early 1990s, achieving a degree of fame for his loud, energetic, abrasive sales pitches on late night television and for his blunt tone and persuasive style.

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".

[2] Both Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan parodied West and his co-host, Eddy Lewis, on three episodes of Saturday Night Live.

West made his commentary debut on June 19, 2002, on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view alongside Ed Ferrara and Mike Tenay.

[3] On the February 26, 2009, episode of Impact!, West turned heel when he verbally assaulted and walked out on his commentary partner Tenay, leaving him to call the remainder of the show alone.

[14] In 2022, Impact Wrestling featured a video tribute to their original announce team of West and Mike Tenay during Slammiversary.

[18] Memorial tributes to West were made by the pro-wrestling community through social media and on WWE, AEW, and Impact Wrestling programming.