The end of one era sparks the beginning of another.

Lilian Garcia has returned to WWE as lead announcer for Monday Night Raw. PW Insider broke the news of her return earlier this evening. The Takedown on SI reported on Ms. Garcia’s presence backstage at tonight’s Raw in Philadelphia, PA.

Ms. Garcia joined WWE initially in 1999, making her debut on the August 23rd, 1999 “Raw is War” episode. Ms. Garcia continued as the main announcer of Raw through 2009, when she departed the company. Ms. Garcia returned to WWE in 2011, becoming the ring announcer for “SmackDown”, departing the company again in 2016. Ms. Garcia was also involved in multiple storylines through her first run in WWE, including with Jeff Jarrett, Miss Kitty, and Howard Finkel.

Ms. Garcia is also noted for singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during WWE events, first prior to house shows, and then a memorable performance on the first “SmackDown!” episode following the 9/11 attacks, airing September 13th, 2001.

Since then, she made sporadic appearances for the company: twice in 2017, including announcing the finals for the Mae Young Classic, the “Raw 25 Years” episode where she was honored alongside other legends including Maryse and Kelly Kelly, and once in 2019 where she appeared on the “Raw Reunion” episode.

Most recently, Ms. Garcia appeared on the May 13th episode of “Monday Night Raw’ as a special guest ring announcer, where Samantha Irvin asked her to announce the King of the Ring quarterfinal match between Gunther and Kofi Kingston.

Ms. Garcia replaces the outgoing Ms. Irvin, who was with the company since 2021. The Takedown on SI reported on Ms. Irvin’s departure earlier today. A source within WWE confirmed to The Takedown that Ms. Irvin had departed the company fully, not just as Raw announcer.