Former World Wrestling Entertainment ring announcer Lilian Garcia was a popular staple of Monday Night Raw for one decade. On Sept. 21, 2009 she closed that chapter of her life and opened another a week later when she married Chris.
“I did [Raw] for 10 years straight,” Garcia said. “I remember waking up one Monday morning where I thought I was going to find myself in a hotel room and have to get ready to go to the arena. Then all of a sudden it clicked. It was like, ‘I’m home. This is weird.’“Watching it on TV was when it really got strange. First it was I didn’t know what was going to happen. Then I just sat there watching, and someone else was ring announcing. It was surreal. I don’t regret my decision to leave.
“I miss the fans tremendously and miss my co-workers, but I was really exhausted from being on the road for 10 years straight. I really wanted to focus on my music. I mean I got married the week after I left. So I didn’t want to start my marriage off by being on the road all the time.”
The “Decade Diva” spent more than a year writing and working on the follow-up to her 2007 debut Spanish album "Quiero Vivir." The new project will be predominantly English speaking, with possible Spanish nuances included. Garcia reunited with producers from "Quiero Vivir" George Noriega and Tim Mitchell to record the first song in Miami.
Before flying to Chicago to start on the second song, the talented singer appeared at the Wizard World Miami Comic Convention (wizardworld.com) at the Miami Airport Convention Center. Garcia signed autographs, took photos with fans and participated in panel discussion with Kevin Nash and former WWE diva Angela “Savannah” Fong.
The WWE alum is amazed by the amount of adulation wrestling fans still show at these conventions and wherever she goes, despite her absence from the business. “I thought they would miss me a little bit, but not this much,” Garcia said.
“It has been very humbling and nice. Every day I get a message or a tweet from someone saying, ‘It’s not the same without you.’ It’s just so nice. I didn’t realize the impact I had made. [Current Raw ring announcer] Justin Roberts has been doing a great job.
“I wish each of the announcers a lot of luck. It was a tremendous journey for me and an amazing opportunity. I loved it.”Right now Garcia is focused on her music career. Will ever make a WWE return?
“I say, ‘Never say never,’” Garcia said. “Look at The Rock now. It is something that I’m definitely tied to. Once you are in the WWE for a length of time, it’s a family base. You are tied in, no matter if you leave and take a break. Sometimes you come back; so you never know.”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s appearance on Raw caught Garcia by surprise. It also elicited memories and good times the two shared on the air. “I really didn’t think he would come back,” Garcia said.
“I really thought with his movie career and all. I don’t blame him, though. It had been seven years. When he was making movies, he didn’t have that experience being with the fans and feeling that electricity from the fans. He thrives on that. It was having that experience again.
“People were tweeting me telling me how much they missed the interviews with me and The Rock. It was just such great chemistry that he and I had with those interviews. As soon as I saw him on TV again, it brought back memories of those days. It was just really cool.”
• The Wizard World Comic Con Tour continues March 18-20 in Toronto; April 29-May 1 in Anaheim; May 21-22 in the Big Apple; June 17-19 in Philadelphia; Aug. 11-14 in Chicago; Sept. 17-18 in New England. Sept. 24-25 in the Big Apple; Oct. 22-23 in Mid-Ohio; Oct. 28-30 in Central Canada; Nov. 11-13 in Austin; Dec. 3-4 in Atlanta.