Lilian Garcia Remembers Howard Finkel, His Mentorship and How He Helped Her Succeed

It's been a tough week for the wrestling industry, punctuated by the loss of legendary ring announcer Howard Finkel.

Finkel, whose recent death at the age of 69 was announced on Thursday, was the voice for generations of wrestling fans. His signature "and newwww world champion" is woven into the fabric of wrestling history and is often imitated—but never been duplicated—in various forms of combat sports.

As the outpouring of condolences and stories of the man affectionately called "The Fink" came in, they all painted a story of a man who was beloved by everyone in the wrestling industry—especially Lilian Garcia, the woman who would replace him and become the voice for another generation of wrestling fans.

"Any time I can speak about Howard I want to speak about him, because that man was such a light," Garcia told Newsweek on Thursday, "and someone who touched my heart, my soul, my everything from the moment I stepped into the WWE."

Garcia began her WWE career in an unusual way. One August day in 1999 she arrived on the set of Monday Night RAW and was told that she'd be the new full-time ring announcer on the company's flagship show, replacing the legendary Finkel on her first day. She would become a SmackDown interviewer on her second day.

"It was rough. I was coming in to replace him and I didn't know it," Garcia recounted. "And at first I was shocked and I looked at him and I was like, 'Oh my god, I can't do this' and he looked at me and said, 'Yes, you can do this and you will do this.'"

That first day was a blur to Garcia—she just remembers getting a tour from now play-by-play commentary Michael Cole when they told her the news.

"It was [Howard] and [ring announcer] Tony Chimel that helped pull me through. And then just continuing week after week, any advice I needed Howard was right there with me," Garcia said.

The wrestling industry is not the easiest to work in. Many would describe it as cut-throat with a lot of politicking involved. Wrestlers and on-air talent are constantly looking to keep their spots in the company, so it was shocking at first to Garcia that Finkel welcomed her the way he did. But that's just who Finkel was.

"I replaced him on Monday Night RAW, so he could have been so bitter, and instead of doing that he set me up to win and that just tells you the kind of person that he was," Garcia said. "Because of him, I respect that job so much and to this day any time I step into a ring at WWE or a cage at PFL I want to do that job justice because he did these bigger-than-life introductions."

Finkel would teach Garcia the ropes about ring announcing, something that has a lot more nuance than many wrestling fans might realize. Whether it's how to address a champion or how to announce a six-man tag match, the sequence and flow of events matters, something that is hard to explain without doing an actual announcement. Finkel's mentorship helped Garcia succeed in her new role and ingratiate herself with the fans for 15 years.

One way Finkel helped Garcia was to become a character in the show and have his own storylines.

The WWE Hall of Famer was involved in plenty of storylines throughout his storied career (most notably with Dr. Harvey Whippleman), but it was a 2000 storyline that sticks out in Garcia's mind.

In her one and only match, Garcia would face Howard Finkel in an "evening gown" match where the winner was declared after their opponent was stripped to their underwear by the other.

Trish Stratus was in Garcia's corner and Stacey Keebler in Finkel's. The story saw Howard trying to get his ring announcer job back, but as the match would go on Keibler would turn on Howard because of his derogatory comments and the three women would strip him down to his red underwear.

"He had such a great sense of humor to be ok with that angle. People were laughing at Howard, but his sense of humor was part of the entertainment and it was ok and he never complained about it, and it tells you the kind of person he was," Garcia explained. "And having that match, it was him passing the torch and setting me up."

Like Finkel, Garcia would get involved in storylines throughout her career to help elevate the wrestlers—whether it was being put in the Figure Four leglock by Jeff Jarrett, or getting in a romantic angle with Viscera. Finkel saw the bigger picture and so did Garcia.

Garcia stopped being a full-time WWE ring announcer in 2016, but she's returned for special occasions. While working with the company she would help train ring announcers. Current SmackDown announcer Greg Hamilton thanked Garcia when he interviewed her when she was a guest at WrestleMania Axxess. Garcia is happy to hopefully affect some of these newer announcers in the same way Finkel affected her.

Currently, Garcia ring announces for the Professional Fighters League, along with having a singing career and hosting a podcast called Chasing Glory.

Garcia regrets not getting Finkel on her show because he had a lot of stories to tell, but unfortunately he wasn't well enough to be on it. Garcia is looking to do an episode of Finkel soon.

While speaking of her friend and mentor, Garcia remembers a few months ago when they last spoke.

"I will never forget that man. He really touched my soul and I wrote on Instagram that 'Heaven didn't gain an angel because he was already an angel on Earth.' And I really believe that," Garcia said through tears. "He passed the torch, he mentored me without even knowing he mentored me. I wanted to catch up with him and see how he was doing. And I wanted him to know and I thanked him profusely how much he touched my life. How grateful I was that he helped me and set me up to win that he was there for me. And that I wanted him to know how much I valued his guidance and how I value the job of being a ring announcer. How much love and respect I have for it and that's why I continue to do it when I'm called to. And I just wanted him to know not only how much he touched my life, but so many others' lives around the world. I just felt it was important to reach out and say I love you."