Lilian Garcia’s Reason For Leaving WWE: “I Made the Right Decision”
WWE Hall of Famer Lilian Garcia recently revealed why she decided to part ways with WWE in 2016. Speaking with Ten Count Media, Garcia revealed an emotional story of her father’s illness which led to her departure. In March 2015, he was diagnosed with bladder cancer, which forced her to move him in with her for treatment. The hospital near his home in South Carolina had run out of options and she brought him to California for treatments.
“My father got really sick, and I took care of him. We found out at the end of 2015 that he’s got bladder cancer, and I moved him in with me because the hospital in South Carolina where he lived had run out of options. I moved him in with me [in] March of 2016, and he was going to City of Hope, and they were trying all sorts of different experiments on him.”
In 2016, she and her family were informed that her father had limited time left. The former ring announcer had to put an end to her WWE career to be with her father. Her father passed away on Christmas Day in 2016. Lilian Garcia reflected on her decision to step away and said that she would have continued working with WWE if the situation was in her favor. However, she doesn’t regret her choice and she knows she made the right decision.
“And then it was in August of 2016 that they said to us, they didn’t tell him we wanted to keep it away from him. But they told my sister and I that he had two weeks to three months to live, and I just knew I couldn’t get back on a plane.
I knew that was it my sister and I went full on caretaking for him, and he ended up lasting five months. But he passed on Christmas Day in 2016, and I still look back, and I know I made the right decision.”
Garcia is one of the legendary WWE ring announcers and she joined the company back in 1999. She was also involved in a handful of storylines during her time with the company. She first departed the company in 2009 but returned a couple of years later. She then had a run for five more years with the company. She is currently announcing for the Professional Fighters League (PFL), an MMA league launched in 2018. Garcia also runs a podcast, Chasing Glory.
Lilian Garcia’s most recent appearance in WWE took place on May 13th edition of WWE Raw and she was introduced by ring announcer Samantha Irvin. Irvin had introduced Gunther while Garcia introduced Kofi Kingston for their King of The Ring match. Garcia recently revealed how the appearance came together.
