Long time WWE announcer, Lilian Garcia, has announced that she will be leaving the company after 10 years.
Lilian Garcia to Leave WWE
In 1975, Howard Finkel became the first ever employee for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, the company that was owned and operated by Vince McMahon Sr.
For the next 25 years, he was known as the voice of WWE. His announcing duties with the company made him familiar to every single wrestling fan on the planet.
When he was ready to step down from his role, the company knew how big of a pair of shoes that he was leaving behind for someone to replace. Regardless of how well the next person would do, there was going to be some initial resentment from fans who had grown accustomed to Howard Finkel.
A lot of people fear change and instantaneously show resentment towards it.
As expected, Lilian Garcia was not immediately welcomed with open arms by wrestling fans. Every mistake that she made was magnified by the fear of change that the audience had lingering inside of them.
After a while, though, people began warming up to Lilian Garcia. She started becoming a beloved character through the years. Those years kept counting up. The diva/announcer has been with the company for an entire decade now.
Through her official website, Lilian Garcia has announced to wrestling fans that she will be leaving WWE when her contract expires later on this year.
What's Next?
The company had already taken steps towards replacing Lilian Garcia well before the internet wrestling community knew about her departure.
When she informed the company that she was leaving, WWE immediately went out and placed some ads on various employment websites. They clearly stated that they were looking for a new ring announcer.
Based on the ad, it's quite obvious that WWE is looking for a female ring announcer that is also easy on the eyes. One of the added value of Lilian Garcia was that she is attractive enough for the company to use in photoshoots.
Since people in general are afraid of change, you can be sure that the new ring announcer (whoever she may be) will be faced with some resentment during the first few months of her tenure.
It is then up the new ring announcer to try to win over the fans like Lilian Garcia did.
What's Next For Lilian?
Lilian Garcia's official reason for her departure is that she is ready to move on to the next phase in her life.
The New York City resident stated that she wanted to focus more on her music career. She also plans on getting married this year. In order to do both of those things, she's going to need more time.
A couple of wrestling fans have already began to wonder if she would show up in TNA. It's not entirely out of the question. The company could choose to hire her for pay per view appearances, which would mean that she's only required to work once a month.
When you're building a brand, it helps to have familiar faces for your customer base to associate with.
Lilian Garcia isn't just a familiar face, but she's also a familiar voice now with wrestling fans.
Closing Thoughts
It's not the end of the world for WWE, but I am going to miss seeing Lilian Garcia around. |
