"It was intense" - Lilian Garcia recalls finding out she was going to replace wrestling legend in WWE
Former WWE personnel Lilian Garcia has reflected on joining the company as a ring announcer. She disclosed how she felt when she discovered she would replace Howard Finkel in 1999.
The 58-year-old was the voice for many wrestling fans who grew up watching the product in the 2000s. While she appeared on other shows like SmackDown and premium live events, she was the lead ring announcer for Monday Night RAW for most of her WWE career. She parted ways with the company in 2016 to take care of her father.
During a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Lilian Garcia reflected on finding out she would be the new ring announcer in WWE.
"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," she said. [H/T TV Insider]
Lilian Garcia returned to WWE on the May 14 episode of RAW as a guest ring announcer.
Lilian Garcia on Triple H running WWE
Garcia interacted and worked with some of the greatest wrestlers in history, including Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock. She was even involved in some angles during her career.
She shared her thoughts on The Game running the company:
"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." [H/T TV Insider]
Lilian Garcia is the first female ring announcer to ever announce WrestleMania, which is professional wrestling's largest annual event.