Lilian Garcia addresses WWE return: ‘I’m back home’

Lilian Garcia is excited to be back home for another stint with WWE.

Following Samantha Irvin’s departure from the company, Garcia returned to WWE last night as the new ring announcer for Raw. It’s a very familiar role for Garcia, who started her career in WWE more than two decades ago. She was first with the promotion from 1999-2009, returned from 2011-2016, and has come back for occasional appearances since then.

Garcia took to Instagram overnight to thank the fans for supporting her. She admitted to being nervous but is excited to see where things go from here.

“Oh my gosh, guys. Did that just happen? Did I just really go back to the WWE after being gone for like eight years? I mean, I’ve popped in every now and then, but it’s been eight years since I was the full-time announcer there,” Garcia said. “And my goodness, when my music hit and I got introduced, the cheers and the applause and the roar that you gave me tonight — thank you. Thank you for that, because I was nervous. I was so nervous. I could even tell when I started announcing that I was nervous, but it is all worth it. It’s all worth taking a risk and a gamble and just being excited and just coming back. Just seeing everybody, like between also the WWE Superstars, my friends, and reuniting with the crew — I don’t know where this is all going, but I’m excited and I am strapping on my seatbelt for that.”

Garcia also expressed her support for Irvin and wished her well in her post-WWE career.

“But Sam, I do want to tell you, I think you’re an extraordinary talent. You’re unbelievable. And I know it could not have been easy to walk away from here, but I wish you all the success in your music career,” she said. “I know you’re going to kill it. You’re going to kill it. Ok, but WWE Universe, I look forward to seeing you. I look forward to signing your autographs and to high-fiving and all of that. All right, I love you. I’m back. I’m back home.”

After leaving WWE in 2016, Garcia did MMA ring announcing for the PFL (Professional Fighters League) and hosted a podcast called Chasing Glory where she interviewed WWE talent.