Turn on Raw, SmackDown, or even WrestleMania, and you’ll find Samantha Irvin and Alicia Taylor slaying it as ring announcers. This brings a smile to trailblazer Lilian Garcia who took the proverbial torch carried by the first regular female WWE ring announcer Mike McGuirk and ran it even further.
Garcia opened more doors while becoming a popular fixture on television during one of the company’s most successful periods in its history. She chugged beers with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and hosted segments with Dwayne” The Rock” Johnson The powerhouse singer brought audiences to tears with her rendition of the National Anthem on SmackDown days after 9/11 and even made a Latin music album alongside Jon Secada. Garcia also became the first woman to announce at WrestleMania. Her longevity in a once extremely male-dominated business speaks volumes.
Since Garcia’s last regular gig as a ring announcer with WWE in 2016, she continued to be in the spotlight. Along with appearances for special events like Tribute to the Troops and the first all-women’s WWE PPV Evolution, the personality hosted a podcast, worked on music, dabbled in some acting including a spot on A.P. Bio., and stepped in to announce for the Professional Fighters League.
All these memories have been flooding back as Garcia celebrates the 25th anniversary of her WWE debut on August 23. Here Garcia reminisces about that day.
What do you remember about that first day?
Lilian Garcia: I remember the shock of finding out at 3:30 that afternoon that I was going to be replacing the legendary Howard Finkel that night. It was my very first day on the job. I hadn’t even been told I would be ring announcing that night until 3:30. For me, from 3:30 until the end of the show it was such a blur. The fact 20 minutes before I was live on the air they told me no cue cards. I remember terror if I could put it in one word. To know, that 14 million people were watching around the world and 20,000 in the arena. It was intense.
Did you receive any words of advice before going out there?
No. There were no words of advice. It was more so ring announcer Tony Chimel sitting with me at 4:30 to tell me what to say and how to break down every match. I was trying to learn 45 minutes of sitting with him. Then I got dressed and went out to watch him do four matches for Sunday Night Heat. That was my training. Writing my cue cards until I was told I couldn’t use them. Talk about a sink-or-swim situation.
WWE
Was there a point in the beginning where you were rethinking if it would last?
I think because it was so intense and I hadn’t been trained and I was messing up. I didn’t know how to do the job. I didn’t have the cadence. I started thinking, “Am I ever going to get the hang of it?” The main thing I will tell you is I just kept showing up. That was the secret to it. Keep showing up and one day it started catching. And then I’d mess up again. Then I had to pick myself up and do it again because you have to keep showing up.
Vince McMahon had this reputation for not having much patience with certain things. How was he with you?
He definitely saw something in me because I kept having a job week after week. When I did mess up, they ended up incorporating it into the storyline. I thought that was cool. I remember messing up Chris Benoit, and he came over laughing. I was laughing with him. I think I called Chris Benoit mistakenly Chris Jericho, one or the other. He said not to worry and they were going to write it into the storyline and have some fun. It was a backstage segment. I love they gave me grace and the opportunity. I say “they” because it was Kevin Dunn as well. They gave me the opportunity to find my way and make mistakes and keep going.
It was really trial by fire with you as you were also involved in a storyline with Jeff Jarrett very early into your WWE run. He actually put you in a Figure Four Leglock. What do you remember about that experience?
They asked me if I minded because he was going around and putting different people in the Figure Four. They said, “We would love to have him do that to you where it’s so spontaneous. Nobody would expect the ring announcer to be caught in a storyline like that.” I told them absolutely because I’ve always been athletic and always been a fan. The fact I would watch Andre the Giant and Ric Flair and all these wrestlers growing up and be such a fan and screaming at the TV. Then here I am and they want to put me in a storyline. I said heck yes. A dream come true. That’s when they saw how much I loved doing it, and I was able to pull it off. It looked like it was killing me when it didn’t hurt at all. That’s why I got involved in so many other storylines because they saw I could do it.
How was it working with the likes of The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and getting to know them during the height of their pro wrestling popularity?
I had a conversation once with D-Von Dudley where we thought back and said, “Wow, what an era.” We didn’t even know back then how special the “Attitude Era” was to be a part of. That’s why looking at all this footage I thought I was lucky…Rock and I got to know each other backstage when we were waiting around for our backstage interviews when they were setting things up. He found out I sang and was the one who told me I should talk to the producers about singing the National Anthem. I did and that’s how the whole National Anthem thing started because Rock gave me the suggestion. Vince had me at every show and went on to WrestleMania stuff.
With the drinking beers with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I can’t remember how that whole beer situation started. I wish someone could find the footage because it happened after the show went off the air. We would do just for the house in attendance, 20 or 30 minutes of something. The beer drinking started then, but it culminated with them putting it on the air. That led to him and I singing on Memorial Day and having the beers after singing.
Mike McGuirk did commentary as well. Did they ever reach out to you to do that as well?
It’s funny because I did commentary for the beginning of SummerSlam once with the Spanish team. That was so fun because Spanish was my first language. Other than that, part of my audition was doing commentary. That is such a hard job. You have to know everything going on. A lot of knowledge plus you have someone talking into your ear all the time with cues. You have to listen while saying things.
What do you remember about your audition?
I remember it was with Michael Cole. I do remember it was DX on screen. At that time I had not watched wrestling. I fell out of it when I went to college. When they put me in the booth to call a match with Michael, it was a nightmare. It was like, “There is a guy with green tights.” I didn’t know the names of any wrestlers or moves or storylines. You can imagine. I remember walking out of that audition saying,” Well, I know for sure you’re not going to hire me for commentary.” They did not.
What is one piece you’ll never part with from your time ring announcing?
As you ask, I put a lot of stuff up for sale. There is this whole store of my things. I’m going to be putting up the link on Instagram. I feel there are certain WrestleMania pieces I can’t let go of. The piece I wore the night I sang my song “Quiero Vivir!” on Raw was so special. There are a lot of things I have to hold on to and a lot of things I have to let go of.
Samantha Irvin and Lilian Garcia (WWE)
You got to do a little ring announcing during a Raw in May. It must mean so much to you to see two women Alicia Taylor and Samantha Irvin handling ring announcing for the flagship shows SmackDown and Raw. You passed the torch in a lot of ways.
Mike opened the door for me. Then I was able to take it to another level. Now these ladies are taking it to another level. That’s what makes me so excited that we can keep breaking barriers. The fact I got to be the first female ring announcer to ever announce WrestleMania. I hold that dear to my heart and don’t take it for granted. It’s a tremendous privilege not only as a woman but as a Latina. Then now they get to break their own barriers. Two women hosting these mega shows. I’m so proud of them, especially when I see how much they love the job. That’s what I told Howard. I told him I would work so hard at this job because I knew how much he loved this job. He was helping me and mentoring me. I appreciated it so much. I wanted whoever had this position to appreciate it and love it like I did. Alicia and Samantha are definitely doing that. It just makes me really proud.
You got to know Triple H over the years from a performer to one of the top execs. What has that been like to see him lead this new era?
To see what Triple H has done now with this new era is just incredible. I always felt he would be doing something like this. I knew he would be still involved with this because I could see his passion right from when I met him and started working there. His intensity and love for it. Then we saw what he did with NXT. He has a gift.
Who would you want to see induct you into the Hall of Fame if you had your way?
First of all the fact you would even say that means a lot. Like you’re just assuming it will happen. I appreciate that. I don’t want to jinx it though. I’m going to hold off on that one, but thank you for saying that. Hopefully, it will come true because it has been beautiful to see how the fans every year reach out and tell me it’s a matter of time. It would be really special.
I know you did some combat sports after WWE. Do you see yourself doing another full-time gig ring announcing?
Never say never. That’s what I’ve learned in life. When I left WWE after 10 years I didn’t think I would come back. Then look at what happened two years later. Then when I left WWE I didn’t think I would announce. Then PFL (Professional Fighters League) contacted me and that turned into four years. Right now I’m focused on a new single coming out. I’m excited about it. It’s more in the Christian direction because now I’m singing with a worship team. Finding Christ again has ignited my life. It has saved me and empowered my life and brought me peace and joy that I will never give up again. But also speaking engagements where I love going to schools and corporations and inspiring other people to be able to see their full potential and that they can accomplish more than they think they can.