Lilian Garcia Recalls Failed WWE Commentary Audition
The Women's Evolution didn't just take place in the ring as it took place outside of it as well. An example of that is the likes of Renee Young and Beth Phoenix being a part of WWE commentary booths which traditionally only featured men.
Lilian Garcia was a WWE announcer for close to two decades and she was asked if she ever tried out for a commentary position when she spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"Oh my God! The commentary is a whole skill on its own. When I auditioned for WWE initially, they threw me into the commentary booth just to see what I could do," Garcia said before adding that she knew lots of the classic wrestlers but didn't know the current ones like The Rock or DX. "I was going to college right before that and just fell out of wrestling right at that time. So when they put me in that commentary booth and all of a sudden DX is in the ring, I don't know DX.
"So I just went, 'Oh wow! Look at that hit. Oh, wow that must have hurt!' It was bad [laughs]. I remember putting the headphones down and saying, 'Wow you're definitely not going to be hiring me for this job.'"
Due to that experience, Garcia says she has a phobia of commentary and doesn't want to go back to it.
"But I love that women are stepping up and doing more of that?There's so many women announcers, interviewers and commentators. I love it. So proud," said Garcia.
Garcia came up during The Attitude Era in which women were used much differently than they are today. She talked about the hurdles that women's wrestlers faced before the Women's Evolution.
"The name says it all ? Evolution. Even the evolution of my show; it was on audio first and now it's going to video?The way the world was at the time, we have to remember that's how things were at that time," stated Garcia. "We evolve as a culture and at the time bra and panty and bikini and mud matches were fine. The girls were like, 'Alright. We have to do this? Okay, we're gonna make it the best it can be.'"
She then talked about how the fans noticed how hard the women worked and started the #GiveDivasAChance hashtag. Then when women were given the chance to prove they deserved, they did just that and showed they belong.
"It was the evolution of even the women in the bra and panties matches that did so good, even in those matches," said Garcia. "That opened up the eyes of people and it evolved into what it is today."
In addition to her career as a ring announcer, Garcia has also had a career as a singer. She talked about her music career and who from NXT she is currently working with.
"Josiah Williams, an NXT broadcaster, he and I are doing an EP together. Right now you can get our new single "Now" on Spotify or wherever you get your music. Anyone looking for an incentive on how to get your life together now, that's what the song is about ? inspiring you to make a move," said Garcia.
Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia can be subscribed to on all major podcast platforms. New episodes drop every Monday morning.
Lilian's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it Lilian discusses her favorite Steve Austin memories, her recent interview with The OC, AJ Styles and The Club discussing previous WWE frustrations, the launch of WWE's new podcast network, her failed WWE commentary audition, WWE's Women's R-Evolution and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.