Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Lilian Garcia returns to WWE with Chasing Glory, Advice from Vince McMahon, The Rock's "People's Strudel"

Episode Date: November 3, 2020

Lilian Garcia chats with Chris Van Vliet in the backyard of her home in Los Angeles, CA. She talks about returning to the WWE with her podcast "Chasing Glory" on the WWE Network, her favorite moments working as a ring announcer, the "People's Strudel" interview with The Rock, why she left WWE in 2009 and why she came back in 2011, advice she received from Vince McMahon, working as the ring announcer for the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and much more! Support the show by supporting our sponsors: INDEED- Get a $75 credit to boost your job post by going to http://indeed.com/BlueWire BETONLINE- Get a new sign up bonus by using the promo code BLUEWIRE at http://betonline.ag Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Woo! This is the Chris Van Vleet Show. Chris Van Vleet Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Vleet! All right, welcome back again to the Chris Van Vleet Show. Thanks for being with us on another insightful audio adventure. This episode is brought to you by Indeed and Bet Online. and she's one of my favorite people to have on the show.

And I couldn't be more excited for Lillian Garcia that her podcast, Chasing Glory, is now available on the WWE Network. Of course, you can still listen to it wherever you're listening to this podcast. So wherever you're listening, make sure to subscribe to her show. And if you haven't subscribed to my podcast yet,

could I ask you to take a second to do that right now? That's literally how long it'll take. It'll take a second. And a big thank you to everyone who left a review. this past week. Another big week for reviews. Big, big appreciation to you for that. I'll keep reading one out on every single episode as we head towards that goal of 2,000 reviews, you know, vague goals, get vague results. So that's why we have the very specific goal here of 2,000 reviews by my birthday, May 19th. This one comes from G-Flow 7, who titles this, Love It. Chris has great energy and knows how to ask

interesting questions. Well, thank you so much G-Flow and thank you to everyone who's been listening to the show each and every single episode. Sometimes it's two a week, sometimes like last week, three a week. I just appreciate you being on this ride with me. I got to tell you, it was so nice to be able to do this interview with Lillian Garcia in person. Zoom interviews are great. I appreciate the technology that we have right now, but there's nothing better. being able to look in someone's eyes when you're chatting with them to be able to feel their energy. So that's exactly what we did here with Lillian. And we talk about her legendary WWE career and how she was basically thrown into the fire

the very first day that she was hired. We also get into those promos with The Rock and the People's Strudel. We talk about her favorite interviews that she's done in her podcast, Chasing Glory. Talk about her secrets to looking so young. After all these years, she's 54 years old and still looks the exact same as when she debuted in WWE in 1999. And I didn't expect it, but this interview gets pretty emotional. Yeah.

So please help me welcome Lillian Garcia. That's so good to see you again. You too. Awesome. I always love your company. Oh, well, I love yours as well. Thank you. It looks so beautiful where we are right now.

Do we tell them what's on the other side of this wall? On camera, it looks beautiful. Okay, this is the back patio of where we live. We moved recently. You're in a beautiful location. I love the location. I mean, one block from the beach, but we didn't really know that we were going to be moving into this chaos that has become our place. And I've shared some of it online.

Yeah, we've seen it. Because, you know, I like to keep it real and tell people that, you know, things are sometimes a challenge. and but it's how you approach the challenge. But I'm not going to say it and sugarcoat it and be like, everything is so wonderful. And we're just saying, hey, brighter skies ahead. No, there are days that my husband is like, damn it, we're living in filth.

And I'm just like, I can't breathe. And so let me bring people up to see. Yeah, bring it right back around here. Okay, so we ended up moving in the whole chaos that it was of finding out about the protest and about, you know, the COVID and quarantine and all. We realized that we didn't really want to be in West Hollywood anymore because we kind of

kept gravitating to the beach for some sanity. And this is the start of summer, right? This was the start of summer. And so we actually took a break from the show in May. Yes. And we went up the coast. We took a trip. It was definitely for the mind.

It was unbelievable. I totally recommend it. And then when we go to the coast, we took a trip. got back, and we got into our place, which you saw our place, it was gorgeous in Hollywood, right? Yeah. But we were like, this doesn't feel right anymore. So we decided, and our lease was coming up anyway.

And so we decided, okay, time to move to the beach. So we started looking. We find this property. We're so excited. We took a break from the show. We're like, you know, there's just too much going on. We kept saying, it feels right to stop now and really listen to more people and what's happening and with the protest.

and just take a pause. And so with packing and relocating, it was like, oh, yeah, this is a perfect time to take a break from chasing glory. So we find this place, we move, and then a month later, that was the end of June. And a month later in July, our friends had invited us to go to Utah. So we come to Utah. And then we were supposed to only be there for two weeks, but we're loving the, you know, just the company and just being with people and the work that we, we were doing there with them. So we end up saying, okay, we'll extend our time.

But what happened was is that the producers from, you know, the last dance, right? Yeah, Michael Jordan. Yes, amazing documentary on Netflix. Wait, how does that get tied into this? Well, the producer from the last dance called me. And he was like, hey, actually, WW reached out to me first. They were like, somebody from the, or the producer from the last dance going to reach out to you. They want you involved in documentary.

I was like, wait. What? Oh, okay. So I end up getting reached out by them. And it was funny because my husband and I were currently watching that documentary as this message was happening. So when Jake reached out to me, I was just like, Jake, I'm literally watching your documentary right now. Like, this is amazing. Yeah.

Come to find out they want to do a documentary for Stone Cold Steve Austin. And it's coming out next year. And it gave me the biggest comment. compliment. He said, your interview with Steve that you did on Chasing Glory was what made us realize that we wanted to do a different documentary because he's had a few, a few already. But he said, we've never heard the story of him being so shy as a kid that he couldn't even order from the Dairy Queen, that his sister had to order that. And to see what he's become, you know, was so inspiring. And I was like, holy cow, that is amazing, right? So then they said, and you had such dealings and you seemed

have such a friendship with him. We want you in the documentary. Wow. I'm like, that is amazing. Wow. Totally. So immediately I reached out to Steve. He knew that they were going to reach out to me. And I'm like, dude, this is so special. And he's like, would you really be in it? And I'm like, are you kidding me? Of course I'll be in it. And then he was like, what? Yeah. What? So I had to come home for that filming. So I was like, I told my friends in Utah, I was like, okay, so what I'll do is I'll fly home. I'll do the documentary. and then I'll fly back and my husband was going to stay.

So I did that. I flew home. They came here to where we live. They filmed it. And then I stay here for like two days and my throat is a mess. And I'm like, wow, I know this feeling all too well.

And I was like, probably should get the place tested for mold. Because I've had this in my past before. Yeah. Got the place tested. Mold through the roof. Apparently the neighbors upstairs,

they had a full. flood and it seeped through through the years. And so all are like half of our kitchen gone. I showed you. It's half our kitchen, our laundry room complete, the smaller bathroom. I mean, it's just. I don't know how you're living right now. It's just plastic everywhere. It's plastic everywhere, dust everywhere, which is why I say like we're trying to live here before. We're going back to Utah while this is going to be, you know, reconstructed. And we're going to go from here to W. to film some more. I'm sure we'll talk about that. So we'll be gone to hopefully by the time we get back, it's going to be better.

Well, look, we have a beautiful location to have a beautiful conversation. Thank you for inviting me out here. Of course. Thank you. And when you announced that you were going to have a big announcement, what were most people thinking it was going to do? What did you think? Because you didn't even know. I didn't.

What did I think? Well, I knew that you were looking to maybe do some other, like, different branding stuff. I thought it was going to be like some sort of a business dealing. Okay. I didn't know it would be an extension of what you were currently doing. But what did most of your fans think it would be? Well, they thought, especially when the Friday before, I think I posted a picture of myself sitting on the ropes and gave away just a little piece of the WWE logo in between on the turnbuckle.

And I was like, so excited for the announcement on Monday. And a lot of people were like, wait, what? You coming back to Monday Night Raw? And I was like, oh, God, no one's guessing. the thing, right? And so I was thinking, I think, are they going to be disappointed that I'm not coming back on wrong? But everyone was so great to know that Chasing Glory, you know, landed on the WW network. Yeah, that's big. Yeah, it is. Well, it's, I mean, I saw a lot of the headlines that were like, Lily and Garcia returns to WWE in a, you know, a different way. Yeah, different capacity.

Yeah. I'm like, that's, that is exactly what's happening here. So you're back home. I am. And it feels good. And it's an evolution, right, of a just like super, super, stars evolve. Some of them go from being superstars in the ring to them being producers, you know, and in many ways passing the torch or something like that. Like the fact that I get to go back home and now bring these amazing stories that the athletes are sharing with the guests and they entrusted me with such vulnerable, you know, and open conversations of mental health and different capacities and the struggle that is real, you know, but it becomes so inspiring when you hear on the human side of someone's struggle

and you see them as, you know, bigger than life, but then you hear like Braun Stromen, for example, being my first guest, and you hear everything that he's, you know, had to go through and still faces to this day. And then to know that he's going out there, you know, monster among men. But like he said, mental health should be talked about more. And the more that we can be open about it, I think the more that we can help each other out and people will stop feeling so alone. And I think that the suicide rate would really slow down.

It's interesting that you refer to that as your first episode because you have so many episodes you've done before. First on the network. First on the network. So of the other interviews that you have done, who's been the most surprising? Well, I think there's something very surprising in each one. never like to put one over above the other. So when I make this comment, it's not about rating because it's people's hearts that are really going out there and they are putting themselves

out there. And yeah, there's some people that judge, but most people, really, the listeners have been like, wow, even Paige. You know, Paige, she'd gone through so much. And when she came back to the WWE, everyone was hitting her up for a podcast, you know, for an interview. And she was saying no to everybody. And I saw her backstage one day and I just said, hey, I don't know if, you know, you know, because you've been gone and you've got Chasing Glory. She goes, oh my God, I love your podcast. I listen to

it all the time. And she's like, what you did when Nikki Bella was just so amazing. Because I got Nikki to really talk about things she'd never talked about before and shared. And she goes, you, I want your podcast. Yes. Let's do this. Oh, wow. She came over to

where I was living in the marina at that time and spilled so much. And it was just so incredible and the love she ended up receiving. She was so floored the next day. She's like, oh my God, Lil, I'm receiving so much love. And it's been the opposite. It's been judgment, judgment, judgment. And now people are understanding my journey. They understand I made a mistake. They understand that I'm learning from it. Now I'm sharing with, you know, and helping others. And I think the surprising thing has just been what these athletes have endured and have gotten through and still can make something of themselves.

Well, I think if you're able to be vulnerable, it allows other people to go, well, I have that thing that I haven't talked about. Or I have that thing I haven't even really thought about in years. And if this person that I look up to can address those things going on in their life, maybe I can address those things myself. I think it's a beautiful thing to know that we all have a story. We all have a unique story that does have some triumphs and some great moments. But it also has some painful moments because life is hard.

You know, we fight with our families, you know, or we get bullied or like with myself. I did get bullied. And that hurt me for a long time. And it even impacted me in the WWE because I had not spoken about it. I had not dealt with that pain. So sometimes if somebody, you know, ribbed me back there, I took it personally. I took it an attack against myself where I was feeling like, oh, God, this is. you know, I had like a little bit of a PTSD from school, so I was bringing it into there. So the more

that I was able to share my own journey of, hey, I got bullied, but this is how I got through it. And this is who I am now or eating disorder and talking about, you know, being bulimic for years and how I've endured that. My marriage that I had that just, you know, it was an antidepressants and that whole journey that I had to take, not because he was a bad man. He was a a really good man to me, but I wasn't in love with him. You know, it's funny. You and I spoke about this right beforehand about the difference about love and being in love. And I want to share this right now on your show because I've really never gone in depth about this. So if you will allow me, of course. So with him, I married him very early on. And even my family was like, this is a mistake,

Lil. And not that it was a mistake to marry him, but give it more time, give it more time. You're way too young to be making such a big decision. And they saw how different were worse. So they could see from the outside end. I wasn't listening. I wasn't listening. I wasn't listening. And then a week before the wedding, I remember sitting in the car with him and just hyperventilating and being like, oh my God, I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this. And him being like, it's okay, honey, you're just having wedding jitters. It's all right. Everything's going to be fine. It's normal, you know. So I'm listening. I'm like, okay, I know he loves me and maybe I am just having wedding dinners. And there were three, over 300 guests that were coming. So I'm like, okay,

okay, we got to do this. I can't just like call it quits now, right? So I go through with it. And then I stay in this relationship for so many years. How long were you married? Married 13, together 16. Wow. And a lot of therapy throughout it because I thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn't receive his love because he loved me so much. And so then I got on antidepressants because then my therapist was thinking maybe you just, you know, imbalanced. So immediately, they just want to give you a pill. So I got on antidepressants and then come to find out it wasn't that. I just wasn't in love with him. Two extremely different situations. What was the moment where you went, I can't do this anymore? A priest of all things.

You would never think that a priest would help you out in this situation. But I remember I went to church. And Molly Holly, actually is funny because somebody brought her up in an interview that I, because I've been doing a lot of interviews now to promote, right? And somebody, there were a Christian station, I guess, and they said, hey, is it true that Molly brought you back to God? And I said, you know, it's never that I left God,

but I felt like God was too busy for me. and that maybe he's just, you know, I'm just little old me, who am I with my little problems, right? So I was leaning so much on the therapist, and Molly actually saw me one day, and she knew what was going on. I confided in her. And she said, you know, therapy's okay, but don't forget God is there for you. And if you truly lean on him, you will find a way, you will find what's the right answer. So I started going back to church, going by myself, and I'll never forget. I walk into this church.

It was in New York City. And I was living in the place that I always wanted to live in. But walking down the streets, the saddest I've ever been in my life. And again, this isn't a knock on him. He was a great man, great man. But I walk in there, and it was a priest that I didn't even know who he was. He was a visiting priest. His name, Nicholas Perkins, I will never forget his name.

don't know where he is in the world right now, but I thank him every day because I really resonated with what he was, you know, talking. And it wasn't even what he was saying in the sermon, just something about him. So I went and I asked him afterwards. I said, hey, can we talk for a moment? He's like, yeah, sure. He brought me into his room.

And I just, the floodgates, floodgates pouring out. And I just told him everything. And I told him how it had been in such anxiety and how, you know, from day one, like being in the car. you know, asking, by now we were married 13 years. And I said, you know, the week before the wedding, I was telling him no. And I just got into this.

And oh, my God. And I can't believe I've allowed this to happen. But maybe something wrong with me, something's wrong with me. And how do I, you know, have God open my heart to receive the love from this guy that he's trying to give to me? And is there something wrong with me? Do I just want an abusive relationship? I don't know. I've never been an abusive relationship.

But I didn't know. And he was like, you know. Everything you're, he goes, do you have children? I said, oh, no, no, not with him. Mm-mm. The one, no one, it keeps in it. He goes, the Catholic Church, there's a reason why there's annulments. Because not everyone should be married.

And not everyone is seen as marriage in front of God's eyes. That was the most eye-opening revelation. He said, everything you're telling me, this is not a marriage in God's eyes. Yeah. last while I was like, whoa, what? And I just kind of knew what I had to do. Did your husband agree with this? Or did he go, no, we can work on this. Oh, no, he wanted me just to be with him. And that was the most painful, painful thing. But I also knew I wasn't being a wife to him. So by not being a wife to him. Yeah, you're a great person, but maybe not a great partner. It wasn't the right one for me. And then I realized by

setting him free, I really was loving him as a wife. Yeah, yeah. So that's what I finally did. Wow. And who would have thought, again, that the Catholic Church would be the one to set me free? And I got my marriage in old. It took two and a half years, but it was worth it. And then my husband that I'm married to now, you know, I got married in the Catholic Church. And it's, you know, it's amazing. What a difference. He's a great guy. He is a great guy. He is a great guy. He is a good guy. Yay to CJ.

He is. You know, if I think for most people, Most people got to know you when you entered WWE in 1999. You're 33 at the time? Yeah, I was 33. So who was Lillian Garcia before we saw you for the first time on WWA? I was scared, terrified. Those parts of me that I hadn't dealt with being bullied. But I also, I feel like the Army brattened me with my dad being lieutenant colonel instilled that take a chance.

You got this. my mother as well, a very amazing parents who always supported me. And when I told them what I was going to be doing, and dad and I used to watch wrestling as a kid, so dad was like, wait, what? Like, this is amazing. Like, we used to watch Rick Flair, you know. And I was screaming at the TV as a kid to then turning around and introducing him. That's incredible.

Yeah. So who I was, which is somebody that was anxious to really do a good job. and that was also something that didn't work for me as I was a perfectionist. And so I would beat myself up a lot if I messed up. And I was learning on the job because, as you probably know, I didn't know that I was going to be a ring announcer since the day before. The story you told last time, we'll link to that first interview down below. The story you've told last time of like, they basically hired you and then that night,

you were going to be live on Raw. My very first orientation, they hire me. I'm in the Dominican Republic. they wanted me to start SummerSlam, which would have been the 22nd of August. But I was in the Dominican Republic already doing a show. So I told him, I was like, well, I can't come. And I literally had just been told like a few days before.

It'd already been there. We were doing contracts like as I'm in the Dominican Republic. Like I was running to the front desk, getting the facts, sending it to my attorney. Like my husband was out laying out, doing all this stuff. Well, I'm, like, trying to work and get all this thing done because they would not let me get on that plane until all the contracts were signed. So I was trying to handle all of this. Yeah, in the Dominican Republic, with Montasuma's revenge, by the way.

Oh, no. Bad. Oh. I mean, bad Montasuma's revenge. I lost so much weight, and it took five weeks because I had a parasite that had gone in. So I gave that. For people who might not know what that means, it's going to the bathroom. A lot. Endlessly. To put it mildly.

I had, I was in bed. It was funny. I was getting my certification for scoovind diving. I could scuba dive in the morning. And in the water, I was okay. Isn't that wild? That is weird. Water is really healing. So in the water, I was all right. When I'd get done, I'd run to the room. And then it was like, in the bed, just chills. And then trying to work on a contract at the same time. Right. So it was just. And you're like, you want me to be on TV in a few days? You didn't know about the TV part. Well, they ended up giving me a shot. I come home on Sunday.

So they gave me a shot to get on the plane to be able to make it home, you know, a special shot that they have there because so many people come down with Montessuma's revenge. And so I get on the plane. I'm totally like so sick. Then I get home to New York. I get on a plane the next morning to go to Iowa State University. I get the tour, and then I get told at 3.30 that afternoon. By the way, you're replacing Howard Finkel tonight. And here, you know, 20 minutes before, I get told no Q cards.

So with Montasuma's revenge. Yeah. And no IFB. No IFB. No, yeah, no Q cards, no nothing. And you're not even that familiar with the characters at the time. Not at that time. I had left, you know, when I went through college, I just didn't have time.

Sure. So I didn't know who Stone Cold was. I didn't know who The Rock Undertaker, Sean Michaels, you know, Hunter. It's funny to me now saying all of that that I didn't know who that was. But yeah, I mean, look, who I was then is a risk taker. Sure. Even through fear. I almost ran, dude.

I almost ran and ran to the bathroom and then ran. Do you remember the first mistake you made in WWE? God, almost every night. I was learning on the job on live TV, no cue cards. Was there like a first one that when you went to the back, they went, actually, you said this. Well, I don't remember what when I made this mistake, but I do remember that it had to do with, I would memorize who I had, you know, to announce. And then I would sit down while they were having their match.

I was memorizing the next match. And so I was like Chris Jericho was in the ring. Was it? No, Chris Benoit was in the ring. Chris Jericho was coming up. Oh, there's a little dog. Hey, buddy. Letting us know, he's ruling. Hey, Colby. Yeah, he's like, I remember that.

Yeah, so I remember I introduced Chris Jericho in the ring. And then when I went up to say, here's your winner. I already had the next match in my mind, Benoit. so I said Chris Benoit. Instead of Jericho. Yes. Chris Van Wa wasn't even out there. So I remember Jericho looking at me going, excuse me?

So luckily on SmackDown, I was doing interviews, and they wrote it into the storyline where Benoit approaches me. And he goes, and he was a heel, so it was perfect. And he was like, what did you call me? Something like that. He goes, oh, you called me a different Chris, you know, somewhere, and just went off on me. So it was written in.

But I do remember that instinctively because I was like, That emoji. The face palm. Oh, God, no. What were some of the early conversations that you had with Vince? Did he say anything to help kind of quell your anxiety or your nerves that you had? I didn't really have that much interaction with Vince until I started singing the national anthem. That's interesting.

It's almost like he was still not wondering, because Kevin Dunn was the one that was a real champ of me being there. and giving me in a female an opportunity in that role. There were a lot of people that were like, no, no, no. I don't think this is going to work. Probably because male-dominated industry. Probably because Howard Finkel's a legend. You know, probably because I wasn't trained. Like, there was a lot of things that were not in my favor, right?

But Kevin Dunn was like, no, this is something like he was just being that innovative. Like, he just saw the future. And it was really cool. And I'm going to say thank you to Kevin Dunn because he changed. my life. You know, and so I think that Kevin was definitely, he was my champion. And it was like, it's okay, just learn this stuff, get better, you know. And I did. I'd memorize everything. But when I started singing the national anthem, and that was, so I come on board in August of 99. So I started singing the anthem in February of 2000. And that's when I even sang it at WrestleMania

that year. And that was when all of a sudden Vince was like, I really like this. And I'm going to have you, you know, do this before every single show because I think this is really going to make you have an impact with the fans and they're going to just get a little closer to you, for example. And that's exactly what happened. That's what changed everything for you. He has a pulse on everything. This man, that man, he is so genius. He just knows how to make superstars if you listen.

You know, a lot of times you just have to really listen to his advice. And, hey, also, he's not a genius in the first. fact that every single thing that he thinks, you know, will work. But most of the time, oh, my God, it's like Michael Jordan, you know, Michael didn't make every single, you know, a shot. But most of the time. But if you think about, if he hadn't given you that shot to sing the national anthem and then continue singing the national anthem, you would have unfortunately been what

so many people think ring announcers are, the person who says the names in the hometowns and the weights. But you evolved into something that was so much bigger. than that. Thank you. It was so special to know to be if given that opportunity. And that's not a shot at ring announcers.

That's unfortunately what people think that they do. I've been a ring announcer myself for many years. But think about it. Howard Finkel didn't sing, but Howard is forever just ingrained in that role. He's a legend. He is a legend. I think that you find it.

I think that it's important to when ring announcers to love what you're doing. You know what I mean? to really respect what you're doing. If you're doing it just to, you know, have a cool job or to put yourself over or something like that, I think that's the ones that end up where you don't remember them. But the ones that really stand out are the ones that you can tell,

they love what they're doing because they're in there, like giving these big introductions and caring about it, right? And not about just getting their voices heard. Yeah. That's the other thing. You also got worked into storylines pretty early. which we talked about last time. But, you know, I'll never forget the Vince McMahon with the bald head and he crawled under your skirt.

Oh, my God. Did you not know that was going to happen? No, I knew that was going to happen. Why do you think my skirt's a little longer than normal? So that was interesting because we were trying to figure out how does he hide his bald head underneath my skirt if my skirts are always like, you know, short. Yeah. And it's like, well, I can't go out there and wear a gown, right? So I worked with Julie.

She was making the costumes seamstress back there, amazing seamstress, by the way, and seamsters. So we decided that we were going to put a slit on the front. So we could still make it, and we made it like an open slit. So we could still make it sexy and it kind of made sense. But when I turned around and it's long in the back, then that whole angle would work. And she did the Velcro so that Bobby Lashley could come and just strip it.

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Oh, whoa. Oh, my God, it's been a while. I'll give you some easy ones. And now I've switched over to MMA, so I've got all of that in there. I'll give you some easy ones. Okay. The Rock. Rock, was he 270? Is he 270?

Oh, you don't know? I think he's 275 Miami, right? Yeah, well, I know Miami. Yeah. But yeah, it's either 270, 275. Okay. Stone cold. These are easy ones.

Stone cold, Austin, Texas. Oh, no, Victoria, Texas. Victoria, Texas, but 255, I believe. And you don't know. You can't have to tell me if I'm not right now, but I can't remember. How about John Sina? Sina was always, you know, Massachusetts, of course. West Newbury, Massachusetts.

Right, but we're, I'm trying to think I think maybe he's the 270. No, no. He's 240. Oh, I think see, I think you're right. I, that just tells you, I left 2016. Well, you originally left in 2009. Right. And then I came back for five years.

But then I left in 2016. And you got to also remember the roster that I've had to remember in the 15 years. When I came back, even after two years when I came back, I was like, who? Not who were half these people because I kept up with the product. But I was like really feeling it back there. Yeah. Right? I was like, wow, this is really different.

It's like a whole, you know, the change of the guards. How about the Undertaker? Undertaker never got a wait. He was just from either parts unknown or from Death Valley. Death Valley. Yeah. Now he's, I think it's $2.99. Oh, yeah, you're right.

He did get a wait later on. He was $2.99 because I always said, really, he can't just be $300. He couldn't just be $300, $2.99. Or I think at one time he might have been $301 or something. I'm like, three-oh-one? He's a 300-pounder then. I'm very curious to know when you left in 2009 for the first time, did you have a plan?

Did you have a plan for what was next? No. I left, and that was the biggest thing that I kind of learned is you've got to have a plan. I left thinking I had talked to an agent and I was signed and recently signed. And I thought, maybe I'll go do Broadway. Maybe. But actually, we got married. Here's the reason now I remember, too.

We got married literally the week right after I left. Like, I left in September, I believe it was 21st, and then the 26th, no, 28th, I was getting married. So it was from one Monday to another. You got married on a Monday? I did. Who gets married on a Monday? I did because it's like I ended a chapter on a Monday from Monday Night Raw, like all the years, and I wanted to start a different chapter. Oh, wow.

Yeah. I got married in Disney World. It was so much fun. It was so great. Like in the Magic Kingdom? Yeah, so Epcot. So basically they have a pavilion. You get married away from the property.

And then you can have your reception at the Morocco in Epcot, which is amazing. Yeah. So you didn't have a plan. So we were going to have kids. And so it was like, okay, well, maybe I was going to do voiceovers. I was going to do all this kind of stuff. But when we were thinking about having the kids, I was like, okay, I need to just slow down for a minute. Like, I'd been on the road for 10 years.

I was like, I just need to pause, right? So that's what I mean about not really having the plan is because my plan was to have kids and take a break. And then when the kids weren't coming and we were waiting, I was like, okay, well, my agent was like, maybe Broadway and maybe this and maybe that. And so then I flew out to L.A. wanted me to meet the agency in L.A. I come out here to L.A., not with any intention to move out here. But after I spoke with the agent out here, and I, the weather, I mean, I was in New York and 10 below. Weather's pretty good. I come out here in January, short-sleeved shirt like this.

And I was like, okay, this is really, after 16 years in New York City with that really aggressive winter. Look, I'm from Toronto. I get it. You get it, right. So that's when I said, all right, I'll come out here. I'll give it a shot. Yeah. Haven't moved something. And to put things in perspective, yesterday was cold, and it was like, what, 63 or something?

My husband this morning goes to take our dog out, and he literally uses the emoji with a, and he's like, it's cold. And I was like, do not let anybody from Michigan, Wisconsin, Chicago, New York, see this emoji right now. So what was the plan then to go back to WW? Because I imagine when you left in 2009, the door was always open. and you had a great relationship with them. When did the conversation start to go to, was it them going, do you want to come back or was it you going? Hey, what are you thinking?

So they had SummerSlam out here and this was, hold on. I came back in 2010, I believe, I left in 2011. Maybe, no, 2011. So now it's SummerSlam 2011. They invite me to the SummerSlam party, which was on the roof of one of the hotels and I can't remember. And so it was beautiful. I got to see everybody. I was like, oh my God, I miss you.

I miss you. And it was so great. And then so Kevin Dunn was there. And Kevin was like, you ready to come back yet? And I, at this point, I had found out, so we got married in 2009 when I left, found out in 2010 that we couldn't have kids. So now that plan went out the door. And so I missed. When I saw them, I miss, I was like, you guys are like my family.

Like, I really miss you. And so at that point, though, I was like, no, no, not yet. I love you. Thank you. You know, whatever. And I didn't even have an intention. And then to November, he always left the door open. And November that year, I really was getting sad. Like I was sad not to be part of it. I felt like I had more still to offer. And so I reached out to him and I was like, hey, so were you serious about this? And he's like, your timing couldn't be more perfect. And he's like, And we have tributes to the troops coming up and we want you to sing. And so we got to get this done. And so again, here it was. Contracts. Ooh, let's go fast. And the next thing you knew, I was back.

It was awesome. Wow. Yeah. It happened that quickly. Happened that quickly. Yeah. Jeez. And then a very different set of circumstances when you left in 2016.

Yeah. You were looking after your father at the time. Yeah. And that was, you know, so hard. And I wasn't intending to leave the company. You know, at this point. and I had put 15 years in, but I still was okay with staying. I loved it.

And but then when he got really sick and they gave us, they told us, you know, two weeks to three months to live. It was kind of like the decision was made. And it was okay because, you know, I took care of him. And during that time is when he's like, Lil, I don't want you just to see it here and watch me dying. Like, you know, what can you be doing next? Like, I feel bad that you're not there anymore. I was like, well, I had this idea in 2004 for this little show that I thought would be really cool to talk to the superstars.

And it all started with the females. Like, I was just so enamored with their stories that they were sharing as we were in the locker room getting close with one another. And I had pitched it even to WW in 2004. This is before Total Divas, all of that. But the timing of it wasn't there. Sure. Podcasts weren't really. They weren't a thing at all. They weren't a thing at all.

They weren't a thing to like 08, 09. Yeah. So there really wasn't a home. just before it's time. So I was like, maybe I'll just do that, you know? And then that's how it started. I started in 2000, November of that year, 2016, he got to see a few of the episodes. Oh, my God. I'll never forget. I walk in the room. He's watching Ray Mysterio. And I had the Spanish podcast as well. And they're both on video. So I had Luchando. And so Ray was my guest for the Spanish one. And so he's watching that. And I come in to the room to ask him something.

He literally goes, he's like chewing on a toothpake. And he goes, hang on a second. I'm watching this amazing show. And then he starts laughing going, oh, my God. I totally forgot. Like, this is you and here's you. He goes, Lil, you're doing so good that you have me like thinking I'm watching like a show show and it's not you. And he's like, this is so good.

Yeah. So I had his blessing, right? And so, yeah, so he passed away Christmas Day that year, 2016. But I feel like I had his blessing all over the show. And so I kept it going, moved over to Podcast 1 in 2017, renamed it to Chasing Glory, kept the concept the same, really just human interest stories. And then left Podcast 1, wanted to put it back on video, put it back on video on my 100th episode. Kofi Kingston was on. He celebrated that with us, which was great.

And then that's now, WWE reaching out. They're like, this is perfect because we don't want to produce the show. We want you to produce it. This is still all chasing glory produced. I want people to know that, to understand that. And they're like, we just want to home it the video portion on our free WW network, which that's important to me. Your podcast is about to explode.

I hope so. And you know why, not from me. I really hope that, and I'm excited for it, because what's being shared on here is really changing people's lives. You know, 60 men, when this. statistic came to me. I was like, holy cow, we have to do something. Sixty men every hour around the world are committing suicide. Take that statistic in. That's crazy. Sixty men every hour around the world. And especially when you look at the wrestling business, there's been a

history of many suicides. There's been a history of a lot of early deaths. I think it's because a lot of people aren't willing to talk about this stuff. You got it. And that's why on the show, it's a place that I say zero judgment. Look, you pretty much, I love the way you interview as well. And I want to thank you. And I want to make sure that people know how much you helped. And I get teary eye because, dude, you're part of this. You're part of this journey.

Wow. Like, you helped out so much when we were trying to figure out when we went to a video. And we were trying to figure out, how do we do this? So how do we get people to watch the show? You know, how do we take it to the next level? And you were so gracious to, like, be there with my husband and just giving them, you know, as much input. And I get emotional because this show is, it's more than me, right? Even your show, it's more than you.

It's like we're just vehicles to get these stories off. Yeah, it's never been about me. Right. And you're that kind of interviewer that you understand that. This is about literally changing people's lives and getting the message out. there. And now that this has got, you know, landed on the network is going to impact people where they can hold on and not feel like they're alone. We all go through shit. We all do. But let's talk about it and let's embrace each other and be one to extend a hand out if you see somebody go through

trouble. And if you need help, please reach out for help. So many people are willing to help, but they don't know that you need help. So they don't want to intrude. I'm very grateful for you to say that. Look, I just love being able to shine a spotlight on other people. And that's exactly what you do on your show. You shine a spotlight on other people, which is why, and I haven't really said this publicly on the podcast, which is why I'm going to change the name of my podcast.

This is not the Chris Van Fleet Show. I'm the vehicle through which other people can have these conversations. The show's never been about me, and that's exactly why your show is so great. Thank you. It's true. And thank you for being so open. I mean, yeah, thank you for, I know that this is very touching to you.

This, like this means a lot to you. It does. And it means a lot to me. So thank you. It's been a labor of love. I want people to understand. It's funny because I did a whole podcast movement speech. And it was to help other podcasters and people that are wondering, should they start a podcast?

Should they not start a podcast? All of that. And I say, pick something you're passionate about. Obviously, you can see I'm passionate about this. pick something you're passionate about, and then go for it. Yes. And don't make it about money. I say this all the time.

I say if you're passionate about it, that means millions of other people will share that passion too. If you love peanut butter, make a peanut butter podcast, the PBPC. Right, right. Seriously. And then you'll never really work, right? Although it is hard work, it's work you're willing to do. It's not like, oh.

But it's a labor of love. That's what it is. But if you go into a podcast thinking you're going to get rich, stop right now. Stop. Do not. And if you can't put yourself and think that, to say that you're going to do this at least for three years without any kind of return, don't do it. Yeah. Just don't do it.

Or if you're doing it because you think it's trendy, don't do it. Yeah. Like it's not. There's many other trendy things. There's some stat out there and I don't know the exact numbers on this, but it's something like 60% of all podcasts don't get past one episode. and like 75 or 80% don't get past five. Wow, I didn't even know that. Because think about it.

So many people go, oh, I could start a podcast. Me and my friend, we're hilarious. You start it and you realize it's so much work to, you know, put all the work into writing it and editing it and producing it and then uploading it. And then you put it up and put it out into the world and you realize, oh, like 17 people listen to that episode. Right. Why am I going to make a second one? Right. And then you do make your second one and then 26 people listen to that one.

And you're like, and that's why so many people stop. So, like, what you said is, you're preaching. You're preaching here. I love it. If you can't do this for three years and just kind of put it out there and do it, then you shouldn't be doing it. Yeah. And if you're worried about the amount of people that are watching it, that's the same thing as, like, Instagram. So many people were like, how many likes did I get?

I put things out because I just want to put things out and then I'm out. Like, I even just literally hired a social media manager. We kind of needed help with all of this. I still run it. Like I still am like definitely checking, you know, I'll write captions and send it to her. But she's helping to manage it a little bit better. So I'm not last minute going, what do I put up today, you know? So it's better.

I'm just like, what message can I put out there today? And it gets posted and then I don't search through the feed. That's why you won't even see me liking a bunch of other things because I can't. I can't get sucked down the rabbit hole. it doesn't do me any good. So you have to know what works for you and what does it. And it's important to have people around you that are better at these things than you are. Yeah, Tom Brady wouldn't be such a great quarterback if he didn't have such a great coach.

Right. But for some reason in our personal lives, we don't think that way. Yeah. And I'm a firm believer that none of us are as strong as all of us. So if you bring someone in who's better at this than you are, you're going to start jumping up some levels. Vince McMahon said it. He says he surrounds himself with people that even know more than him. Now, Vince knows a lot. Don't get me wrong. Vince knows a lot. I mean, it starts, right? But he does have amazing people like Kevin Dunn, like so many others that work there, you know, even with Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, all of them are doing incredible. Michael Hayes, like Paul Heyman. Like, it's incredible.

So these are people that help Vince can't do this all by himself. He can't be editing and directing and producing and you just can't. So it's the same thing with the podcast, which is why I even brought my husband. on. So last July, I looked at him and I was like, I am overwhelmed. He goes, I know. And I said, and I know the perfect person that can help me with this. And he goes, oh, you figured it out? Who? And I was like, you. He's like, wait, what? And I said, babe, you have everything it takes to take this to another level because he is so talented in like the behind the scenes and the marketing. And like he really is. And I said, I need you. And I said, but the. The thing I want to ask is, will you be fulfilled being part of this? And I said, I want you to think about it.

I don't want you to do this just because I'm your wife, you know, and to help me out or anything. I want you to do this because you passionately believe in the mission just like me. Yeah. It took him just like a few minutes to go, hell yeah, let's do this. And we've been doing it ever since. And it's been awesome. And look at you guys now. You're on the WWE network.

You're touching people's lives. Do you ever have the idea in your mind that you might go back to WWA? Full time? Full time? So right now, I never say never. I mean, I know we'll see you back in a WWE ring at some point for some sort of special appearance. I think so. Like, I've done the women's battle royal at WrestleMania.

May Young Classic. And, you know, since the official battle royal on WrestleMania, I've done the first two. This was going to be the third because it already invited me to come back and do it. But so I feel like for special occasions, I'm on there. I've told them, like, I'm family. Like, I'm part of it. Like, whatever you need, you know, it's great. I think that I'm having a fun time doing MMA as well.

And there's an opening there, right? Like, I started it last year with PFL. This year we had to cancel the season. But then I started doing the show prep point where I interviewed some of the MMA fighters that we haven't seen in the cage for the PFL yet that are going to be stepping into the cage. And I said, hey, it'd be cool to do human interest. stories on them so people get to know who are these people before they walk, you know,

into the cage there. So I did that show this year with them. I did the voiceover for fantastic finishes, which all of this is on ESPN. So that was a lot of fun. And then it got announced that I'll be there in cage announcer for next year. So that's great. But the schedule is not that crazy there where I could do WWE as well if they wanted me to do something. I don't know about every single week, because that's a lot, right? It's a lot. But, um, But I'm always open. I'm always open if the opportunity is right. And so, like, with chasing Lori, the opportunity was perfect.

And when you're doing MMA, you actually have the cue cards in front of you. Yes, because so many statistics change. It's not like WW where you could actually memorize. Well, in WWU, you're just basically saying the wait in town. But the rules and all of that, too. Trust me, there's a lot that goes on to ring announcing that people don't get until they're there. They're like, oh, this is a whole lot harder. Greg Hamilton went into great detail about, you know, some really difficult times when you'd have to remember all of these things like that.

Well, sometimes they'll come in in the middle of the commercial and they'll go, those rules, those ones that you memorize, take that out. These are the new rules. And then you have to memorize it during commercial break. I'm just like, okay, two feet on the ground and over the top rope and, you know. So that was my whole like, oh, I just want to get this right. Yeah. But yeah, that's why, because the record. will change as to how many wins, how many losses, how many, you know, draws, that kind of stuff.

The weights are constantly fluctuating. There's so many more fighters and a lot of new people that I'll introduce maybe once or twice the whole season or something. If they're lucky enough, I'll introduce them five times, which is for the PFL because it is a regular season playoffs and a championship, which is amazing format. The only format like that in MMA, you can follow it very easy. and the championship, they win a million dollars in each division. That's life-changing money.

So it's been a lot of fun to be a part of PFL. When you were in WWE, did you have anyone that came up to you after the show and said, man, you say my name so, I love the way you say my name. You know who really, who comes to mind when you say that is Rob Van Dam. Like, we always work together. And that happened totally organically in the ring when, He would come in, I started timing it where he would, I would wait till he would come in to then say his name. Like, yeah, if I saw him coming down the ramp and they always ring the bell and tell me when to start, right?

So I would time me like, you know, the following, oh, Battle Creek, Michigan, 235 pounds. Woo-hoo! I remember. Anyway, so, man, damn. Yeah, but so if I saw him coming down the ramp and I knew it was going to take a little time and be like, Battle Creek. Michigan, weighing into, you know, I'd really just milk it and then wait until he didn't get in the ring so that he could do Rob Van Dam. Or if I knew it's got to be a quick entrance, I'd do it so that at the end of the ramp, he could do it. But then he started getting to me

and being like, looking at me to be, to do the timing. He started picking up that I was doing that timing. So we would lock eyes with each other and do it. So it was a lot of fun. I think that ring announcers can definitely make an entrance. And I don't just mean the verbal part of it, but the other cues that come along with it. I think it's important. It sets the tone for the match. That's the way I always saw it.

The championship, I want the superstars to actually have chills with the, you know, especially a championship introduction. I want them to have chills when I say their name and feeling like, oh, this is a moment. And I'm getting ready to start. Because if they start like that and they're feeling larger than life,

To me, it sets the tone for the match. Versus if you're just like, and making their way to the ring, you know, yeah, you know, not that anybody's done that, thank goodness. You know, people have really cared what has happened. And Greg is great. Like I told Greg a long time ago, find your own tone.

Find your own inflexes. You know, don't try to copy anybody. Be remembered for somebody different. And I remember even when they told me that I was going to be ringing us, I never went back and tried to listen to Howard Finkel. because I was like, I don't want to imitate Howard Finkel. That would be even strange as a female doing that. This is good.

This is a good Finkel. Oh, God bless him. I love him. I miss him. But I had to just put my own, my own spin on it. You probably look back at your announcing in 99, 2000, 2000. The emoji. There it is again.

Oh, my God. But you probably thought you were giving it 110%. You were an 11 out of 10. and you probably look back now and go, what was I? No, I knew I sucked. Oh. No, I knew I sucked. I knew I was lost.

Not that I sucked. I just knew I was lost. But I didn't know what to compare it to. Again, I wasn't trying to listen to Howard because I didn't want that tone to get in my mind or anything. So I really had to find my way on my grounding. But yeah, I listened to it not long ago. And I'm like, and they hired me? Like, because I was like, the following content, God, that's schedule for Wampa.

Like, it was so. Not only did they hire you, day. kept you on board, which I don't know if that would happen now. No, they would, first of all, they would never hire you, show you and be like, hey, we're going to put you on live TV, 14 million people live on Monday Night Raw. But back then, it was edgy. Back then it was like not the, you know, polish, polish this polish, right? It was like sink or swim, baby.

It was also, what can we do to beat Nitro? Yeah. And bringing you in, I think, is part of that equation. You know, I never thought of that. Maybe that was the whole thing with Kevin. He's like, let's, yeah, I don't know, let's just put something different. Yeah. Wow.

I think they might have been already beating Nitro at that time, but they still were in competition. It was close, I think. Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely in competition. Yeah. August. 99.

Or WWF was winning. But he just had the foresight of like, let's do something different, you know, and do something new. And I'm just really grateful that they gave me that opportunity. And then they saw that I really wanted it because I kept studying, studying and trying to get better and all. And then the superstars also started friending me by knowing, oh, she really wants to, like, give us a big introduction. She really cares about it. Like, she really wants to be here. Yeah.

So I earned their respect and then doing segments like with the rock backstage that really helped. Stone Cold Steve Austin with the beer drinking, like all those things. You know, I have a photo of Mick and Stone Cold and the rock in the rain together. And I'm like, that was my life. Like, wow. To know that, like, I, it's not lost on me how special. Yeah.

How special that was. I want to ask you about The Rock because that's my favorite interview. The Rock's so special. He's such a, he's such an amazing human. Yeah. How much prep did you have for the people's strudel interviews? Not really. He just said it?

No, I, I'm trying to remember exactly. Like, if I knew it was exactly coming, I can't remember to be honest. with you, like the exact thing if I knew already. I just remember us being backstage. Brian Goertz was definitely part of the whole writing team, brilliant mind, which I think he still works with The Rock. It's just brilliant at writing.

And I remember them saying something like he's, I can't, to be honest with you, now I'd be paraphrasing. I just remember that it was these moments of him saying, I got you and just go with me, you know, and react and your natural reactions or whatever. He could make me blush. So easy. So easy. It was hilarious.

So which he knew, which is why even the times when he would be out in the ring doing something and then he'd call out to me, I didn't know that was coming. That was not planned. That was not written. Like that was all on the fly. And it was always because he tried to say, hmm, can I make her blush? And he knew it. I'd be like, hey.

But it was really cool. We got to be really close friends, and that's exactly, you know, he's the reason that I got to sing on the show. He told the producers I could sing, and they gave me an opportunity. And then, you know, Vince heard me doing the national anthem. So I have a lot to owe to The Rock for that. I always say the Rock is, the Rock makes you feel special. Even though he's arguably the biggest star in the world, he's self-aware enough to know that it's also your moment. And he shares the moment with you, which I think is at such a rare quality.

He is great and just humble and very giving. And so throughout my entire time, he always would help me. And yeah, I mean, we'd even go out with him. I remember Mark Henry. I remember some of the other guys and we'd go get something to eat afterwards. And just so friendly. And it's exactly what I needed. Because I remember the first three months of being there were brutal for me.

It was really hard just adjusting to the travel. adjusting to, you know, the job, being on live TV, wanting to do so good, messing up on TV. And I was, like I said, I was the hardest on myself. So having him help and Mark Henry when he friended me to, you know, McFoley, like having them really help the, and the females in the locker room as well. Yeah. You know, we could tell all kinds of stories about the Rock and Mark Henry and Austin and WWU's stories. The number one thing everybody's going to be talking about and asking about is how do you look this good at 54?

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm guaranteed that is the number one comment on this video. I appreciate that. What's the secret? So, you know what I really think has helped is this whole mold situation has a silver lining. And the reason I say that is because about 20 years ago, it was right at the beginning. of me being in the WWE. So, right, I was in my early 30s and I got exposed to mold from the house that I lived in. And my doctor put me on a mold-free diet. And a mold-free diet is absolutely no

preservatives, no dairy, no soy, no vinegar, nothing that ferments. And not saying that all these things are bad, but the no preservatives and the no dairy, my sister to this day, I think to the day. I don't bring it up anymore because it started aggravating me so much. She thought that I'd had a nose job. Oh, were you telling me this? I did. I did. Yeah, because the inflammation, the inflammation. The inflammation in my face was so big. Like, you can even see it on some of the pictures in early WWE. I think so. And you can see that my face and everything was in, and it's the inflammation from the food. So the secret is the diet. The diet. And I like that. I work out, fitness every day. I try to, you know, five or six days a week, definitely doing something that you love,

I think is a big thing where the stress, I have a different type of stress, right? I don't have the stress of, I hate my job and I got to go to work and, you know, no, I have that other stress of, yeah, I mean, especially during COVID, we've had a lot of financial stress and all of that and dumping a lot of money and chasing glory and all. So, but it's a different type of stress because you know that you're doing something good. And yeah, you got deadlines, but you still love what you're doing. I think a combination of all of that and just like literally being happy, you know, I'm in love with my husband, like really in love. We've been together now 15 years.

So I really believe all, but I have to tell you, that diet does night and day because if I go off of it, I instantly look in the mirror and it's inflammation again and also I can tell. I always say that if you don't love your job, that's the thing you're doing more than half your waking time. Yeah. If you don't love your job, it's going to trickle down into everything else in your life. It's going to trickle down into your relationships, both your personal relationships and your, you know, romantic relationships. Right. And I just think that, yeah, sure, not everybody's going to be a ring announcer, or not everybody's going to have their own podcast or whatever it is. Right. But you've got to find something that drives you every single day. Yeah. Not everybody wants it either. Not everybody wants to be announcer or whatever. That's just what, you know, called to me.

Yeah. Right. and you love this. But some people really want to be a lawyer and they've been scared to go to law school. You know, I say, stop with the fear. You know, the F-E-A-R word is, it's almost like it's translating where it's fake energy always robbing. Fake energy always robbing.

Unless you're running for your life, it is fake, right? But if you can change those letters to mean something different, for me, I've changed. to fierce every day, always ready. Now, I might not always be ready, all right? And I might not always feel fierce. But if I keep telling myself that, it's almost like convincing myself,

fears always, always, I mean, fierce every day, always ready. Fier's, every day, always ready. And I say to people, make the F-E-A-R mean whatever you wanted to mean for you. And I started creating like this list of what people were commenting. They were like, oh, for me, it's like, finally, every day, You know, they were just having fun with it. Make it something positive. Yeah.

And then go. The biggest, for me, the biggest fear in life is not living the full potential that you could have left, not living fully. That's the fear really to have in life. And in the meantime, all the other stuff, just go, do, live. You've dropped so many truth bombs during this interview. Mike drop. I love it.

I won't really drop your mic because then not break it. That's not good. I always say, be great, be grateful. It's how I end every podcast episode. So I want to end this by asking you, what are three things that you're grateful for right now? I'm grateful for the opportunity to take chasing glory to a bigger audience now and to have the opportunity where people can actually get moved and not feel alone and be impacted by it in a positive way. So I'm grateful to be putting positivity.

out there in the world, like new day, positivity. But more than anything, it's like hope. It's like inspiration, right? If you have hope and inspiration, I think you have a lot. So I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for the people around me that are friends, that are my team, that's my mom, my sister, my husband, like for the people around me that I'm surrounded with with so much love.

I'm very grateful for that. And I'm just grateful that every day, is giving me another day to really be here on this earth and just trying to be the vehicle to get his message out there. And even if you don't believe in God, that's okay. Like I don't ever impose my will on anyone, but I'm still trying to be a vehicle to just send love and hope and inspiration to the world. And so I'm grateful that I get to wake up every day and be here for that. Oh, those are three great things. Where can people find Chasing Glory? Okay, so Chasing Glory, it's exciting. So on Instagram, it's at Chasing Glory. And that's for everything for Chasing

Glory on that page. And of course, chasing glory.com. But now it's also on the WWE Network, which is free. Okay. So what's great, again, the free version of the WWE Network. And remember that wherever you get your podcast audio-wise, you can still find Chasing Glory. So that's, you know, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. We just got it on Pandora. We got IHeart, Google, all those places, chasing Glory app. So that's all chasing Glory. For me personally, it's at Lillian Garcia, one L'L in the middle. So you can find me there on Twitter and Instagram and then Lillian Garcia official fan page on Facebook. YouTube is YouTube.com slash Lillian Garcia. We have the speed, not speed rounds that we put up on there as well from the superstars.

So much fun. And then Lillian Garcia.com. Thank you for this. Thank you. And thank you for taking a chance on me. I approached you when we were at a wrestling convention. You had no idea who I was. And I said, hey, I've interviewed all of these people. I'd love to interview you.

And you're like, all right. Okay. I didn't do it like that. Come on. But you were like, get in touch with me and we'll figure it out. Yeah. There's something special I saw on you. Oh, that's very kind.

Seriously. I did. I saw something special in you in that moment. I was like, hmm. And then, you know, going and researching and all. I was like, whoa, okay. this guy's really got it going on. And I like that.

So congratulations to you in your show. I appreciate you having me on. I really do. Oh, I appreciate you. Thank you so much. Well, there you have, my friends. And Lillian and her husband, CJ, are so fantastic. And I love how they always welcome me into their homes with open arms for these conversations.

I love this one. And you may have noticed that we've been ending these interviews with three things that these guests are grateful for. And I'm hoping that as they're listing off the things, that they're grateful for, that you're starting to think of some things in your life that you're grateful for. Because I promise you, if you start your day and you end your day with gratitude, it is completely life-changing. Snap a screenshot, let us know that you're listening. Tag us on Instagram so we can share it and so we can say hi. I'm at Chris Van Vleet. Lillian is at Lillian Garcia, and you can find chasing glory wherever you're listening to this right now. And speaking of gratitude,

As the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. Hope you enjoyed this chat as much as I did. That quote is so true. I love it. That's why I say be great and be grateful. And we will see you on Thursday with Taya Valkyrie.

The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987, Hammer Alley.

Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You know,