Lilian Garcia reflects on "sink-or-swim situation" she was placed in after landing a big role in WWE
Lilian Garcia has opened up about her time as a ring announcer in WWE. She recalled being in a sink-or-swim situation due to a rule that announcers were obliged to follow.
The 58-year-old joined the company in 1999 as a ring announcer for Monday Night RAW. She initially left WWE in 2009 to focus on other things and returned in 2011, where she continued as a ring announcer until August 2016. She still made a few more appearances after that.
During a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Lilian Garcia was asked whether she received any words of advice before going out in the arena. She said she didn't but added that she made some cue cards but was told she wasn't allowed to use them.
"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," she said. [H/T TV Insider]
Lilian Garcia says she's proud of Samantha Irvin and Alicia Taylor
Lilian returned to RAW on May 13, where she made an announcement about a match. Samantha Irvin is the current RAW ring announcer, while Alicia Taylor is the SmackDown ring announcer.
Lilian Garcia said she's very proud of both women:
"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 [Finkel]. 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." [H/T TV Insider]
Lilian Garcia also served as a ring announcer for the first-ever all-women WWE premium live event, Evolution 2018.