Outside of the wrestlers themselves, there are loads of performers in pro wrestling who contribute to the overall presentation of the sport, like referees, commentators, and, of course, ring announcers. There have been a number of notable ring announcers throughout the history of wrestling, from beloved legends like Howard Finkel and Michael Buffer to modern guys like Justin Roberts and Emil Jay. For much of the 2000s to a good chunk of the 2010s, WWE had Lilian Garcia.
Fans only saw Garcia for a less than a minute at a time repeatedly every night for years and years, so many likely don’t know much about such a veteran talent. Let’s take a look at Garcia’s career and what fans should know about her.
10 Regularly Attacked In The Early Years
Lillian Garcia started her WWE ring announcing career in August of 1999, and it wasn’t long before she was attacked by a wrestler. The first to do this on television would be Jeff Jarrett — less than a month into her career — who was angry about losing a match, so he put Garcia in a figure four leglock. Months later, Miss Kitty was adamant about being renamed The Kat, so when Lillian Garcia used the wrong name, The Kat tossed her into a pool of chocolate pudding where a match had just taken place.
9 Feuded With Howard Finkel
Her first months wouldn’t be the only time Lilian Garcia became part of the story. In 2002, she ended up feuding with one of her predecessors, legendary WWE ring announcer Howard Finkel. It all started when 3-Minute Warning staged an attack on Garcia, with Finkel refusing to help out his colleague. As a result, on the 8/26/2002 episode of Raw, the two had a Tuxedo/Evening Gown Match, which Lillian Garcia won in less than 90 seconds with the help of some other female talent.
8 Romance Angle With Viscera
It’s pretty much WWE tradition for a conventionally attractive woman to end up in a romance storyline with the least romantic character on the roster. So, of course in 2005 the conventionally attractive woman was Lillian Garcia, and of course the least romantic character was Viscera (a.k.a. Mabel or Big Daddy V).
Viscera’s kayfabe relationship with Lillian Garcia would lead to a previously unplanned storyline feud with Charlie Haas due to Haas accidentally knocking over Garica for real. WWE decided to turn it into an actual angle, which culminated with Viscera accidentally taking out Garcia instead of Haas.
7 Betrayed By Viscera
It seems like a majority of romance angles lead to the inevitable in-ring wedding, but the Lilian Garcia/Viscera relationship never got that far. It was Garcia who made a wedding proposal at Vengeance 2005, but Viscera’s response was interrupted by The Godfather, who tempted the big man away from his potential wife with the promise of access to his “Ho-Train.” Viscera abruptly ditched Garcia, but attempted proposing to her about a year later, only to be interrupted by Umaga.
6 “Relationships” With Various Wrestlers
As a ring announcer and sometimes backstage interviewer, Lillian Garcia had memorable on-screen relationships with several wrestlers that weren’t romance angles — both positive and negative. Fans fondly look back on her relationship with The Rock in backstage interviews, which were flirtatious, funny, and had a tremendous amount of chemistry. On a more negative note, she was often the butt of jokes from Triple H, who frequently made jokes comparing the shape of her face to that of a horse.
5 Had Two Runs With WWE
While she seemed like a constant presence on television, Lilian Garcia actually had two separate runs in WWE. Her first lasted from 1999 to September of 2009, with her 10-year run with the company resulting in her being named a “Decade Diva” and Jerry Lawler actually announcing her impending departure in the ring. However, she returned to her WWE announcing duties only two years later and by 2014 would become the ring announcer for pretty much all WWE programming. This run would end in August of 2016, as Lilian Garcia left the company to take care of her sick father.
4 Feuded With Jillian Hall
In addition to her announcing duties, Lillian Garcia also has a music career (see below), and released records while working for WWE. This eventually became part of a storyline feud with Jillian Hall, who believed herself more talented (her gimmick was she was actually a terrible singer).
However, unlike with her rivalry with Howard Finkel, Lilian Garcia and Jillian Hall never actually had a match, making that bout with “The Fink” Garcia’s only in-ring effort.
3 Sang The National Anthem for WWE
One thing fans may remember about Lilian Garcia is that she regularly sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at WWE shows. The first instance of this was at a February 2000 house show, and went over so well that she was asked by the company to do it again. Over the years, it would become her thing, as she’d sing it on a post-9/11 episode of SmackDown and on Tribute To the Troops. She’d also perform patriotically at three WrestleManias — including WrestleMania 21 — performing “America The Beautiful.”
2 Recorded Songs With WWE
As mentioned above, Lilian Garcia also has a singing career, and has been performing since childhood. In the early 2000s, she began releasing records, including the 2007 album ¡Quiero Vivir! But this pursuit wasn’t just extracurricular, as Garcia also recorded a couple songs for WWE. Her first would be "Need A Little Time” which became Torrie Wilson’s entrance music in 2002. Then there’s “You Just Don’t Know Me At All,” which was recorded for WWE Originals, an album entirely performed by WWE talent, and which became Garcia’s own entrance theme.
1 Has Hosted Several Podcasts
Since departing WWE in 2016, Lilian Garcia has ventured into the world of podcasting with two shows focused on interviewing pro wrestlers: the English-language Making Their Way To The Ring and the Spanish-language Luchando Con Lilian Garcia. In 2017, she started hosting Chasing Glory With Lilian Garcia, which takes a more human interest approach with interviews with various celebrities who followed their dreams, including various WWE stars. Chasing Glory airs on PodCastOne, which also features shows from Adam Carolla, Dr. Drew, and Steve Austin.