My Mom's Basement - QUARANTINE MINI-POD: LILIAN GARCIA

Episode Date: November 5, 2020

WWE ring announcing LEGEND Lilian Garcia joins Robbie today to discuss her podcast 'Chasing Glory' on the WWE Network, her upbringing in Spain, what the WWF's hiring process was like in 1999, evading danger ringside, and more. 3Chi: Use code BASEMENT at checkout to receive 5% off at 3Chi.comYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/mymomsbasement

Hey My Mom's Basement listeners, you can find our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. I do not have Jared Karabas nor Brandon fucking Walker with me. Jared was going to join me, but unfortunately some scheduling conflict prevented that, so I did the show solo. It wound up going very well regardless. The interview is with longtime WWE ring announcer and really legend of the business, Lillian Garcia. This is a voice iconic to the wrestling business. At this point, she's calling a match. It has a big fight feel. That's just how it goes. It was a pleasure talking to Lillian. We had a great time. Before we get into that, let me remind you about our presenting

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whole bag. That would probably be dangerous. I would start with like half a gummy. That's what Clem starts with. And he says that really gets them going. So go to 3G.com. Again, that's the number three, CHI.com right now. Shop for all that stuff. Use the promo code basement and you will receive 5% off your order. Go get this stuff right now. All right, let's get into this interview with WWE legend Lillian Garcia. Hello and welcome back to the show, ladies and gentlemen. I am joined by a very special guest, someone that has been around the WWE for a very long time, someone that I'm delighted to be joined by right now. It's Lillian Garcia. Her new podcast, Chasing Glory, well, not her new podcast, but her podcast, Chasing Glory, is now available on the WWE Network and the free version of the WWE Network. I've heard your podcast described as therapy sessions for WWE superstars, Lily. And so let's start there. And what do you think makes that happen? Is it the way you approach the podcast? Is it just your personality? Is it that you've been around the WWE? You know the ropes of it a little bit. What do you think that is? First of all, I want to thank you for

having me on. I want to thank all the listeners that are taking the time right now to listen to this. Yeah, Chasing Glory is a labor of love for me. And the way that you asked that question is kind of the way that it all started. Because 2004, I was sitting in the locker room with these amazing female superstars and we were sharing our stories and some of our struggles and it just dawned on me right there. And I was like, wow, if people knew your journey, if they knew like what you've been through and then you still got through it and became a superstar or sometimes even what you're still going through.

I was like, I feel like they would learn a lot from it. I think that they would be inspired from it. And I think that they could really identify with you even more. And I even pitched the idea to WWE in 2004, but it was too early then, you know, there weren't these, those before podcasts, there wasn't this platform. So that then when 2016, when I left WWE, you know, I was sitting with my dad trying to figure out what do I do next as I was taking care of him. And unfortunately, he passed away. But he got to see the show. When I told him about this idea, he loved it.

And I launched it in November of 2016. I can't believe here we are four years later. But I launched it, and he got to watch the show for a solid month before he passed. And just really gave his blessing on it. He loved it. And I think it's that same premise of when we were in the locker room, a lot of the girls even told me, they're like, you're like the mother hen. They would come to me with these challenges that they had.

And I don't know whether that's like my mom. She was always there for me to listen to my dad as well and would help me out with some you know challenges that I might be coming with even with the bullying that I went through early on in my you know when I went came from Spain to South Carolina it was quite the transition and I think that that allowed me to have empathy for people. And, and I could see that they were judging me so badly. And so, you know, so intensely without even knowing me that I really made a conscious decision that moment to not judge people, not judge people at all. And so that's kind of what I do with the superstars in our conversations is,

A, you know, I'm the first one to talk about any challenges that I've been through. I think it's important. If I'm going to ask you to be vulnerable, then I've got to be the first one. And I think through my own experiences and my own challenges, people can learn from it. And so that's what's happened is that superstars have trusted me that this is a show not about, you know, exploiting their stories. It's really about sharing and owning your journey. And from that, you can empower so many people and it becomes more powerful when you own your story. Absolutely. I love that. And congratulations on the four year anniversary of the podcast. That's

a huge accomplishment in and of itself. And speaking of your journey, I'd love to talk about you coming over from Spain when you were eight years old. So you were born in Spain. I read that your father worked for the embassy. Is that true? Yeah, I was raised there. My dad was stationed in the military. So he worked for the embassy there. And I came over when I was eight years old. What was that like growing up in Spain or maybe not growing up but at least the first eight years of your life growing up? Loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it. Oh my god it was amazing. Spain, the culture just it was really amazing growing up in that atmosphere. And now we were lucky in the fact that we had to leave. I don't know if, I think it was like every six months or something or every

year or something like that. We had to leave for the visa situation and then come back. So even though my dad was in the military, that's kind of crazy, but hey, it's the rules, right? So my parents were like, okay, well, we got to leave. So let's go to Italy this weekend. Let's go to Germany. Or, you know, when you're in Europe, you get to do that. So that's what made it so fascinating is not only was I going to Italy, I was going to another whole different culture. I was going to Germany to another whole different culture. I was going to germinate to another whole different culture. So early on, I got to experience different, you know, ethnicities and cultures. And it was, it was incredible. That's really cool. So you fell in love with it right away when you came over to

America to South Carolina, like you said, did you not like America right away? Or did you also fall in love with that? I was so excited to come to the U.S. I had a photo, actually. It was wild. Because I was American, but I'd never stepped foot in America. And so when my parents were like, we're going to America, I was like, oh my God, we're going to America. Now, I had a flyer of the Statue of Liberty, and she was white. I don't know why. But when I got to the US and came to New York, and she's green, I'm like, wait, what? So I was a little shocked there. And when I did come to New York, at that time, New York was not the New York that it is now. In the fact that it was pretty dirty, and Spain was very, very, very clean. So that was a little bit of

shock of seeing all the, you know, all the trash on the side of the streets and stuff like it was just, you didn't see that in Spain. So I was a bit shocked when I came over. But then when I went to South Carolina, my dad ended up getting stationed at Fort Jackson. I was excited to go to school. And so for me, I had the perception of different cultures and, you know, I'd already experienced all that, all of that, but I didn't realize that not everybody gets to grow up that way. So for me, when I came from speaking Spanish, from wearing dresses to school where, you know, everyone's wearing jeans in the US, I immediately got bullied. And I didn't understand why. And it wasn't until years later, processing all the stuff, like we talk on Chasing Glory, you know, processing all of that, that I realized, oh, I was just like an outsider. Like people didn't understand my culture. They didn't

understand me wearing dresses. And even though I spoke English, just knowing that I spoke Spanish, it was different. And so immediately I stuck out like a sore thumb. Yeah. And it seems like you've always had these entertainment dreams, right? From a really young age, you wanted to be a singer. You participated in competitions and stuff like that. Do you think that came from getting to experience all these different cultures, especially in Europe where that, you know, music especially is such a huge part of that culture?

Well, I know that for sure, what happened was my dad wanted to learn how to play the guitar, the Spanish guitar. He that was just a passion of his. He's just always loved that. And I do too. I love the Spanish guitar music. Yeah. So he had an instructor that came over to the house to teach him how to play guitar. Well, while he was playing the instructor and on my dad, my dad didn't know yet, but while the instructor was playing, all of a sudden my sister and I started singing with him. And my, the instructor was like, wait a minute. She was like, I was on one side. He was, you know, she's on the other. And he's like,

Oh my God, you guys sound like amazing. So he would just come over and start playing songs and then put us in these competitions and stuff my poor dad never learned how to play the guitar because the instructor would never put the guitar down and that's where the love of music started I just knew right then and there this is what I want to do so were you able to turn to that and other entertainment dreams when you did get bullied and kind of focus in on your career? Yeah, that was the one thing that it's funny you should ask that because when I got bullied, I always sang. And when I sang, and I joined the choir and all that, but I always did solos. When I sang, you could hear a pin drop in the room. And what I've processed later is that I kept saying throughout my life, I have to sing,

I have to sing, I have to sing, I have to sing. And I put this pressure to always have singing in my life. But it became a, you're putting pressure, not because you absolutely, I mean, I do love it, but it became more than just loving it. It became, oh, I get it. It was the only time that I could actually silence the bullies yeah so because it was the only time I could silence the bullies it became that that thing that I really had that strong hold on it like I have to keep silencing

people and so singing has got to be everything and it was through the process of all the work that I have done to unpack all of these things that I realized, oh, you don't have to sing to be like, you know, your identity. You just sing because you love it. Yeah. So it's different. The weight of it is different. Yeah. So you continue on your musical career. You're still making music to this day, I believe. But when does the WWE come along? I know, you know, timeline wise, they come along around late 90s, 99, right? 99. Yeah. How do they come along? Like, how did they discover you? Did you discover them? How did you have any prior knowledge about wrestling when they reached out? I used to watch WWF at the time when I was a kid. So I was I was the one with my dad yelling at the TV. I would yell at

Ric Flair. And oh my God, it's so crazy to know that there I was working with Ric Flair years later and introducing him. Crazy. And my dad got to meet Ric, which was really- That's awesome. Very, very special. So yeah, but I fell out of it when I went to college. I fell out of it, I think even in high school. I got really into my studies and was, you know, either studying or on the weekend, I was singing with the band. But when I moved to New York is when an agent that I had, he said, hey, there's an audition for the WWF. And I was like, oh, the World Wildlife Fund? He's like, no, World Wrestling Federation. I'm like, wait, what? Like what like me and wrestling right so I remember almost

not going to the audition because I didn't know it was for ring announcer I just I was like I can't wrestle he goes no no it's not for wrestling because I'm not really sure what it's for but I know it's not wrestling yeah it's something to do with broadcasting so um I was like okay and then he goes look just go just go to the audition you never know best advice I ever took and I went to the audition and you know there was a callback and then there were there was a six like it's a longer story but the short of it is I end up getting called back and I get uh you know my first day is on Monday Night Raw and my second day is on Smackdown it's crazy yeah so what what is an audition like? You don't have

to tell me the entire long story of the callback, but what, what was a ring announcer audition like back in the day? I remember Michael Cole being there and he would interview me and I would then turn around and interview him. So I do remember that was part of it, which is what I ended up doing on SmackDown with those backstage interviews. So that was part of the audition. When they did the callback, they put me in the booth to do commentary, play by play. Oh man, when I tell you how hard that is, that is so hard. Especially if you don't know the storylines. And at that time I didn't know the storylines. I don't know the wrestling moves. I don't know the names. So what am I really commentating? Oh, there's a guy who's

jumped over the rope and oh, he's in green tights and whoa, watch what he's doing. It sounded so horrible, but I didn't know. So you have to know those things. I just remember putting the headset down going, that's not what you're going to hire me for. I know. And they never did. So then there was one other thing that they handed me a tape, a black roll of tape. And they said, look, we want you to sell this tape, but you can't sell it as tape. Ready? When you sell it for one minute, ready, go. And they give you no time to think. And I looked at the tape and I'm like, uh, ladies and gentlemen, you see this? Oh, this is not what you think. All right, ladies, you're at a party

and you forgot your bracelets. All you gotta do is, I'm sitting there putting the tape around my bracelets. I mean, it's like instantly you've got these black bands. It's cool. Oh, and don't stop there. You wanna be a little kick-ass? Then just put them up here.

You're like Xena the warrior. Now they're counting me down. I have 30 seconds left. So I was like, all right, and at this party, your pants are falling down. You have no belt. So what do you do? Oh, you got the solution. Lift up your shirt. You got the tape, wrap it around. You put the shirt over it. Seamless. You're all good. Now they're counting me down. I got 10 seconds to go. So I was like, so the next time you look at this roll of tape, don't look at it it it's just tape because it's so much more but I just went like what just happened like where did that just come out of and the whole place

started applauding and I remember it's because they told me later they wanted to know because it's live tv they want to know how quickly can you think on your wow? Wow. It's a great test. Yeah. So what's crazy is I originally auditioned in Spanish because I auditioned for Super Astros and then found, come to find out they sent that part of the tape that was me selling the tape was in English. They sent that over to Kevin Dunn who then called me in for SmackDown. Wow. What an amazing journey to WWE. So I looked it up your first night on the job on Monday Night Raw. It was, let's see, I have it written down here. August 23rd, 1999. Yes. And it was actually the first night that Triple H won his WWF championship. And I watched the video. You got to call that in the main event. What do you remember about that

night? I think it was in Iowa as well. It was Iowa State University. Yes. I did not know that was the first time he'd won. Again, I had gotten out of wrestling, so I didn't even know what I was walking into. I had Montezuma's Revenge as well, my very first day at the job, because I had just gotten back from the Dominican Republic the day before. So, oh my God. For anybody who doesn't know that is, it's like your intestines are upside down. And then I had a parasite that they found as well. It was awful. So I just remember the panic of it all, that I couldn't use cue cards that night, that

I didn't know whose name was who, whose title, who's this or that. It's crazy. You're just the one that's reminding me that I actually called that match. Like that is crazy for me to know that. I'd love to hear that back. I don't even know. I'm sure I can find it on the network.

You can find it. And it's actually a really funny moment because I watched it and you hesitate for a moment. You say the winner of the match, Triple H. And I was like, oh, that's really funny. Now knowing it was her first night, like knowing how you call a match now, how you would announce a ring announcer now is so flawless and seamless. Like it actually did stick out a little bit. Dude, the whole thing stuck out for weeks.

I was not trained. That's what people don't understand is when I showed up there and Michael Cole's giving me the tour and all, and I'm like, okay it's the my first day but I don't know what I'm doing I'm thinking I'm just getting an orientation to then be told at 3 30 that afternoon you're replacing Howard Finkel you're gonna ring announce and I'm like and what shoes to fill right like oh my god now knowing the Fink like I mean that he was wow uh props to him though he helped me Tony Chimmel both of them could have been so bitter and could have been like nope not gonna help her she can figure it out for herself but instead any questions you have anything just come you know and and Howard himself like god what a what a true soul because he's the one that I really replaced. You know, Chimmel still did SmackDown. So for him to help me as much as he did,

just is a testament to the man that he was and will always be. Absolutely. A legend. He'll never be forgotten among, you know, the WWE universe. Yeah. So you appeared in your first onscreen angle very quickly. September 13th, Jeff Jarrett threw you in a figure four leg lock. Yeah.

What was that like when you find out like, all right, you're being thrown into not only one of the hottest times the WWF has ever had, right? In the late nineties. Oh my God. You're into that madhouse, but now you're a part of the show. Yeah. Okay. So I think my, my acting that I've had in my past was like, yes, I get to be in a script. This is cool. Like I loved it. I loved it. And they were telling me like, when he puts you in that figure four, just make sure that you act like you're in so much pain because I got to tell you, Jeff took care of me. Like I wasn't hurting, but if you look at the tape, you think I'm dying. And they were so happy when they saw it. They were like, you did

so good. I was like, oh my God, anytime, anytime anytime guys like seriously i had so much fun i there were times that yes it did really hurt like i remember jamal uh putting me up uh i forget the name of the move i gotta think about it um well he lifted me over his head and then dropped me simone drop yeah simone drop yeah simone drop so um my god Yeah, Simone drop. Yeah, Simone drop. So, my God, that one, the air went out. Like, I couldn't breathe. And I felt like a Mack truck hit me the next day. I mean, it was like, wow, you guys signed up for this? Like, you signed up for this, like, day after night, right? But I got to tell you, I mean, they really did take good care of me

whenever I was in any of those angles. And even that moment with Jamal, I'm so glad it came off that way because it looks amazing and I survived it's fine yeah it's fun it was fun so here's something I've always wondered just as a diehard wrestling fan since yeah I mean literally as long as I could remember you're sitting by the timekeeper during matches and constantly matches are spilling over to that area right there's matches where they're sending wrestlers through the barricade and it breaks down how many times have you come like this close to uh being damaged by one of those guys absolutely so many danger like it's funny i think seamus there's a great picture of me like this with seamus like

all over me. And I think I posted that when I was like just another day at the office. Did people ever try to give you a heads up like, hey, we're going to be spilling over towards your area tonight? Or would you sometimes was it a total surprise? Most of the times, total surprise. And I think they wanted to do that, too, to get our natural reactions or we don't move out of the way too soon or something like that um there were times though when the barricade like if the barricade's gonna come right straight through for safety reasons i'd be like look it's coming just you know bolt out of the way that kind of deal um so they ww would take care you know of myself and the other announcers

but i most of the time i always would tell them don't tell me anything like i want to watch this as a fan i don't even know the endings like i was like do not tell me the endings of the matches please wow i want to genuinely be like excited and to know and watch the match going who's going who's going so you'll see me at ringside like this like i was just always so in awe and i had the front of the front row dude Dude, I had the best seat in the house. I mean the best seat in the house for some of the greatest moments ever. I wanted to get into it. What are your favorite moments?

What was the first moment that you experienced that kind of made you go like, whoa, what am I part of is special here? I think the very first day at the job and it was not even that night that I was so terrified with all the millions of people and thousands in the stands and all. It was when I was being given the orientation. When they brought me into the bowl and I looked around and I saw the TV cameras and I heard, you know, this place is going to be sold out. And I looked around. I was like, whoa, this is crazy.

Right. That was the moment that I knew. But I also knew at that moment, it was so weird. I was like, whoa, this is crazy, right? That was the moment that I knew. But I also knew at that moment, it was so weird. I was like, huh, I have a feeling I'm going to be able to get to sing here somehow, some way. Little did I know how it was going to work out, but look what happened. Yeah, I mean, you're among the ranks to sing at WrestleMania. The names that you could list there are just iconic and you've sang it how many wrestlemania's three four so i sang three but then i sang this

year they had me do it from on the bump before wrestlemania so is that technically four i think so because they wanted me to three and a half i have no idea yeah all i know is i hold the record and that's pretty badass i mean that's pretty amazing just like there it is I hold the record and that's pretty bad. I mean, that's pretty amazing. Just like, there it is. You hold the record. That's awesome. What were your favorite moments personally? You can name a couple that you were out there for that you experienced ringside. Well, definitely singing the national anthem. I mean, that was always very, very special. The fact that I could contribute to that and, and be that moment of starting the night, you know, with the national anthem, especially after 9-11. The most iconic, one of the most iconic moments in, you know, WWF history. It was the first mass gathering of Americans after 9-11.

People don't, you know, note that very often. They don't. And I, it's funny because I sometimes I'll think back and I go, how, how did you get through that moment? And I really think that it was the fact that I'd been singing the national anthem before every single show leading up to that really, really did help me. But, you know, thinking back to also looking over and seeing all those superstars massively signed up, you know, lined up along the ramp. I just, I remember Paul Heyman looking at me right before I went out and just being like, you've got this, you can do this. like you got this. And this is you're just the vehicle, right? Like I always said, is I'm the

vehicle to get the song through me to try to unite the country. But I never made it it wasn't it wasn't about me. It wasn't about me. It was a literally about a moment to like, hey, try to bring unity. And I think that that uh i mean that's exactly what it turned out to be yeah beautiful moment thank you it's definitely one of those that sticks out definitely then fast forward to you know iraq and afghanistan being able to sing the national anthem with all the troops around i mean that was insane of course yeah especially as an army brat i was gonna say as someone whose father yeah lieutenant colonel like you know i grew up in a military base you know i would that's all i would

see was the troops doing uh you know all their the all their morning exercises and you know drills and all of that was always like i we just look out the window and there they were. So for me, it was like being around family, being around the military. And so those are moments. WrestleMania was always amazing. Being in the ring and just massive amount of fans. It's just an energy, right? There's an energy that you get from the fans, which is why we love the fans so much. It's why the product works so well when you've got the fans and the superstars.

We saw the Performance Center, it kind of really opened up the eyes of people of, wow, the fans do offer a lot to this product. And the superstars see that, they know that. And they were like, God, we miss them. We miss the energy so much. Thank goodness now I feel like it's way better. But I think that the good thing is, is that the performance center allowed to have the transition where you could appreciate the Thunderdome. I think that if it went straight from a live audience to the Thunderdome virtually, you wouldn't have appreciated it as much as coming to that performance center in the middle, you know, and they did their best, but that in the middle you know and they did their best but i would agree that in the middle definitely made you appreciate then the virtual experience and even when they would put out like even for nxt when they'll put out just a few fans and mic them up really well you see that you know provides

a big improvement so let's before we get you out of here go back to the podcast chase and glory who are some superstars that you have not yet had on the podcast that are kind of white whales for you, like the dream guests? Long list. You know, I'm fascinated by these stories and everyone has a unique story. And that's what's so great is I don't like to put like one superstar over the other, like this has been my favorite or not. Everyone's just poured their hearts out. I mean, you can't just, you can't measure people's stories one over the other at all.

There are some people that I would love to get on just like everybody, but it's funny away from even wrestlers. I've even told this to some of my friends, like, I would love to interview Pat Benatari. Like for me personally, she's someone that affected me in how I sing and why I sing in that style and the amount of, you know, times that I would just sing her songs over and over and over. I'd love to be there in the room to be able to get her chase for glory, her story. And so it's not only, like I said, it's a stack of superstars that I would love to do, but even people outside that have affected me. Yeah, that Pat Benatar answer is a

great one. So I would love to see that, Lillian. Tell everyone where they could find Chasing Glory, where they could find you on social media, all that stuff. Well, it's so exciting because now Chasing Glory is on the free version of the WWE Network, which is great. So you can access it for free. I fly to Orlando to get these interviews. So I'm one-on-one with the superstars and we do tests beforehand. Everything's safe.

It's been fascinating already. We were number eight when we debuted, which is very special. And so I want to thank the fans to make that happen. But yeah, you can see it on the WWE network and the free version. You can also download it wherever you get your podcast. So if you want to listen to it, including the chasing glory app, and you can follow the show at chasing glory and Instagram at Lillian Garcia and Instagram and Twitter and for everything. So it's all under one roof.

Just go to chasing glory.com. There you have it. Lillian. Thank you very much. This has been a great chat. Go follow Chase and Glory and check it out on the WWE Network. Thank you so much. You've been awesome.