Lilian Garcia Lilian Annette García ( August 19 , 1966 ) , is a Spanish - American singer and ring announcer . She is best known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) as a ring announcer . During her first stint in WWE , she became the first WWE Diva to remain with the promotion for ten years . Early life and career . García was born in Madrid , Spain . She spent many of her early years in Spain due to her father ' s employment with the American Embassy , and was schooled on an American military base , leading her to describe herself as a " military brat " . Upon returning to the United States , Garcia graduated from Irmo High School in Columbia , South Carolina . She went on to attend the University of South Carolina , graduating . Lilian ' s family comes from Spain and Puerto Rico . García was a top ten finalist in the Miss South Carolina beauty pageant . Garcia was also one half of a popular morning show on radio station WYYS , " YES 97 " in Columbia with Chuck Finley in the early ' 90s . She was a VJ in Atlanta , Georgia , where she also had a drive - time afternoon radio show . Garcia appeared in the 1990 movie " Modern Love " as a singer . Singing career . García singing the United States National Anthem at a WWE event . García began singing at an early age , and began taking part in singing contests alongside her sister at the age of five . Garcia served as karaoke host at the Nitelites nightclub in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Columbia , South Carolina , and later at the West Columbia Ramada . She often sings the national anthem at various MLB , NFL , NHL , & NBA games including for the NBA ' s Phoenix Suns , the NHL ' s New York Islanders , and the NFL ' s New York Jets , and has performed at the 1996 Summer Olympics , the Macy ' s Thanksgiving Day Parade , " Live with Regis and Kathie Lee " , and as an opening act for James Brown . García released her first single , " Shout " , in 2002 . In November of that same year , she recorded Torrie Wilson ' s theme song , " Need A Little Time " , for the WWE Anthology album . In January 2004 WWE released the album " WWE Originals " which included a new track from Garcia , entitled , " You Just Don ' t Know Me At All " . This became Garcia ' s WWE theme song for WWE live events . Out of all the musicians who have opened " WrestleMania " events ( most commonly singing " America the Beautiful " ) , Garcia is one of two singers to have sung the opening song at " WrestleMania " more than once . Aretha Franklin is the other . García began work on a solo album with producers George Noriega and Tim Mitchell in 2005 . In January 2006 , she recorded a duet with Latin pop singer Jon Secada . On " Raw " in August 2007 , she announced that the title of her album would be Quiero Vivir , Spanish for " I Wanna Live " . The album was released on October 9 , 2007 . Professional wrestling career . World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ( 1999 – 2009 ; 2011 – 2016 ) . Ring announcing and storyline involvements ( 1999 – 2008 ) . García was hired by the World Wrestling Federation as a ring announcer in 1999 . She made her debut on the August 23 , 1999 , episode of " Raw is War " in Ames , IA . She was involved in her first angle on the September 13 episode of " Raw is War " , when Jeff Jarrett applied a figure four leglock to her after she angered him by announcing his loss by disqualification to Luna Vachon . Garcia ' s second angle occurred on the December 13 , 1999 , episode of RAW . Lilian introduced Miss Kitty for a Women ' s Championship chocolate pudding pool match . After Lilian announced her , Miss Kitty grabbed the mic and informed Lilian that she was now to be known as " The Kat " . Her opponent , Tori , came out for their match and right after the two women began , X - Pac came poolside in a skin diving suit complete with snorkel , flippers , and goggles . As he was adjusting his goggles Tori jumped on his back causing both of them to fall into the pool with X - Pac landing up on top of Tori , giving Miss Kitty an easy pinfall . Lilian announced the winner as " Miss Kitty " , which infuriated The Kat , who threw Lilian into the pool of pudding . García sang in the WWF for the first time on February 14 , 2000 , at a house show , and began singing " The Star - Spangled Banner " at television tapings later that month . Her first televised performance was on April 2 , 2000 , where she opened " WrestleMania 2000 " . Following the September 11 attacks , Garcia sang " The Star - Spangled Banner " on the September 13 , 2001 , episode of " Smackdown ! " , receiving a standing ovation . In the course of the evening , Garcia commented on the attacks , saying " Well , to say the least , this has been a real roller coaster of a week . And especially because I live in New York City . Um , I have loved ones there , and I ' m just very fortunate and very glad that a specific one didn ' t get to go to his meeting at 8 : 30 in the morning that he was supposed to be at the Twin Towers , and uh . . . so I thank God for that , and I still don ' t know about a lot of my friends . I have . . . uh , we ' ll be finding out , I guess , little by little . I pray for everybody there . . . " . In mid - 2002 , García briefly " feuded " with rival announcer Howard Finkel after Finkel left her to be decimated by 3 - Minute Warning , culminating in an " evening gown versus tuxedo match " that Garcia won with the assistance of Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus . In June 2005 , García began an on - screen romance with wrestler Viscera . The angle saw García propose to Viscera , stating that she wanted to marry him during the " Vengeance " pay - per - view on June 26 . The angle ended at " Vengeance " when Viscera rejected Garcia in favor of The Godfather ' s " Hos " . The angle was briefly resurrected eleven months later when Viscera proposed to Garcia on the May 22 , 2006 , episode of " Raw " , but was interrupted by Umaga before receiving an answer . García took part in her first major Diva publication in 2005 with the release of the " Divas 2005 " swimsuit magazine and related DVD " Viva Las Divas of the WWE " . On the June 5 , 2006 , episode of " Raw " , Garcia ( legitimately ) suffered a sprained wrist when wrestler Charlie Haas inadvertently knocked her to the ground as she stood on the ring apron . One week later , the accident was metamorphosed into a storyline , with Haas incurring the wrath of Viscera . The storyline ended on the July 10 , 2006 , episode of " Raw " , when Viscera " accidentally " performed a Samoan drop on Garcia while confronting Haas . Garcia was removed from television for several weeks in order to sell the Samoan drop . García took part in her second major Diva publication in 2007 with the release of " WWE Divas Do San Antonio " , in honor because WWE was in San Antonio for the " Royal Rumble " . On the April 2 , 2007 , episode of " Raw " , García was humiliated in the ring when her blue satin frilled skirt was torn off by Bobby Lashley , revealing her black lycra bikini panties after Vince McMahon attempted to hide his newly shaven bald head under her skirt . The incident resulted in a large surge in searches for Garcia on the Internet , with searches for " Lilian Garcia " jumping 301 % and becoming the fourth most searched - for term on the search engine Yahoo ! . She returned to announcing on the July 2 , 2007 , edition of " Raw " after taking time off to recover from a skiing injury in which she tore the ACL in her right knee . She was not fully recovered as was evident from her only announcing the first two matches from the ring and the rest from the floor . On the August 6 , 2007 , edition of " Raw " , Garcia announced her new album entitled " Quiero Vivir " . Lilian then started a feud with Jillian Hall , who claimed to be a better singer than Lilian . The next week , she competed in " WWE Idol " , a parody of American Idol , in which she sang " New York , New York " by Frank Sinatra before being interrupted by Santino Marella . Retirement and part time appearances ( 2009 – 2010 ) . In addition to announcing on " Raw " and Raw pay - per - view matches , Garcia would also announce on " WWE Superstars " making her first appearance on April 23 , 2009 . During the last week of August 2009 , Garcia celebrated ten years with WWE , becoming the organization ' s first and only " Decade Diva . " She debuted in August 1999 . On the September 21 , 2009 , episode of " Raw " from Little Rock , Arkansas , Jerry Lawler announced to the live audience that it was Garcia ' s final night with WWE . Garcia then made an emotional speech in the ring , thanking the fans and all of her colleagues . The final match she announced featured Randy Orton , Chris Jericho and Big Show taking on the team of John Cena , Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry . Although , a match between Primo and Chris Masters was taped earlier that evening and aired three days later on " WWE Superstars " , marking her final television appearance . Garcia made a special appearance before the Madison Square Garden audience on November 16 , 2009 , singing The Star - Spangled Banner prior to the evening ' s " Raw " telecast . Garcia filled in for Raw ring announcer Justin Roberts on April 19 , 2010 , due to being stranded in Europe with other WWE Superstars and crew as a result of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption . Her appearance caused a surge in online searches , resulting in the term " Lilian Garcia " becoming the eighth most searched - for term on Google that evening and into the next day . Garcia attended WWE ' s SummerSlam Kickoff Party in Hollywood , California , on August 14 , 2010 . Return to WWE ( 2011 – 2016 ) . On December 5 , it was announced on WWE . com , that Garcia would be returning to ring announcing full - time , working for the SmackDown brand . She returned at the December 6 SmackDown tapings . She also serves as ring announcer for Main Event and PPV ' s Garcia suffered accidents prior to Smackdown tapings in 2012 . While heading to the ring prior to March 13 taping in Columbus , Ohio , the strap on her left high heel broke . One month later , during the April 17 taping in London , England she tripped over pyrotechnic equipment at the top of the stage and fell down the ramp , landing on her knees . At , she announced that the bell would ring 26 times for the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting . On the April 19 , 2013 episode of SmackDown , Lilian was involved in a segment with Fandango , learning dance steps from Fandango and being insulted by him . On the June 6th 2014 episode of SmackDown , she was involved in a confrontation with Alicia Fox . After Alicia had lost her match to Natalya , Alicia went on a violent rampage as she had been doing previous weeks . Alicia pranced around ringside threatening everyone in sight . When she came across to Lilian she lured her into a corner and began to scream at her and asked why she rang the bell . Lilian then told Alicia she had no part of it and Alicia backed down . On October 20 , 2014 , after Justin Roberts was released from WWE , Garcia returned as the full - time ring announcer for " Raw " . On August 1 , 2016 , Garcia announced that she will be leaving WWE soon due to wanting to care for her ailing father , who ' s currently battling two different unidentified types of cancer . Quotes . On wanting to play a heel character : Personal life . García was previously married , but has since divorced . Garcia married her second husband , Chris , on September 28 , 2009 . García describes herself as a " military brat " as well as " La Española Boricua " ( the female Puerto Rican Spaniard ) . She is of Spanish / Puerto Rican descent . García is fluent in English and Spanish . On March 17 , 2007 , García twisted her knee in heavy snow while skiing in Killington , Vermont , incurring a torn anterior cruciate ligament . She underwent surgery on her knee on April 5 , 2007 , in New York City under Dr . Armin Tehrany . She returned to " Raw " on July 2 . García ' s first album , " ¡ Quiero Vivir ! " , was released on October 9 , 2007 . On November 6 , 2009 , Garcia was assaulted during a ticker - tape parade for the New York Yankees to celebrate their winning the 2009 World Series . Garcia said a " punk kid " came up to her and tried to steal her mobile phone . When Garcia wouldn ' t relinquish the phone , the assailant threw her to the ground and ran off . Garcia suffered a scraped elbow .