BYTE THIS REPORT WITH KURT ANGLE, LILIAN GARCIA AND MOLLY
by Kevin Gregg @ 5:55:00 PM on 4/8/2004
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Host: Josh Mathews
Guests: Lilian Garcia, Kurt Angle and Molly Holly
Report by: Kevin Gregg of FOX Sports PowerWrestling.com
Josh Mathews welcomed us to Byte This! and he said that Dr. Tom is in Louisville and we're all happy for that because in the studio is none other than RAW ring announcer Lilian Garcia.
Josh started off by asking Lilian how her album is going? Lilian said that it's going very well. She wishes that it was out already but unfortunately these things take time. She's writing it, going into the studio and when you record something and listen to it, you find things you want to tweak to perfection. Most people don't know this, but when you record an album you record like 25 songs and then narrow it down to 12-15 tracks. She just wants it to be right and she's going to take her time to make sure it's right. When it does come out, there will be a great big party.
Josh said that a lot of fans are wondering how she got started as a ring announcer on RAW and what did she do before she was in the WWE? Lilian said that she did radio. She was a VJ in South Carolina, where she grew up after she moved from Spain. She drove to Atlanta and she was a VJ introducing music videos and she did that and moved up to New York and she was singing on the weekends and doing commercials and all that. Finally, her agent called her up and set her up with an audition. At first, she was like "I used to watch wrestling as a kid, but I can't see myself in wrestling." She didn't know what they were talking about because they didn't specify ring announcer but she came in and did real good and she felt good after the audition and she got to call to try out for 2-3 months and she got in and Iowa State University was her first place and she was hooked from day one.
Josh read an email and it asked Lilian if she thought about singing another Superstar's theme? Lilian joked, saying all of them. For those of you who don't know, Lilian Garcia sang Torrie Wilson's song and at the time, she didn't know it was Torrie's song. As for other Superstars, maybe she can do a soul song for Shelton Benjamin. On the type of music she does, Lilian said that in 2001, she released a CD single that was more pop oriented and then on the Originals CD, she released something that was way more rock oriented because she wanted to do that for the fans because she does have a rock side to her. She's exploring many avenues so she can see what she likes the best.
They went to a caller and the caller said that the night after the Royal Rumble in Hershey, after the show went off the air, there was some pretty emotional stuff with Make a Wish and some beer drinking. What were her thoughts on that? Lilian said that the kid they had there was so sick and he almost didn't make it to the show. He actually made it to the show and Mick Foley came out and actually Austin was there, Goldberg was in the ring and they all started chanting this kid's name and his face just lit up and it was just so amazing that they could touch this kid's life and actually, he touched their lives. Mick came out and told us that not even a week later, this kid passed away. So it was one of those things where they were able to touch his life before he left and now he's in a much better place. It was neat to be a part of that and that's what all of them needs to remember; they can touch people's lives when they are in the public eye.
They went to another caller and the caller asked a two part question; Firstly, Lilian took part in a match with Howard Finkel. How did she feel about that? And what were her favorite segments, besides being a ring announcer? Lilian said that she did have a match with Howard Finkel because she had to get revenge on him because he came after her job. She had a lot of fun with that and Howard had to be put in his place. As for some of her more memorable moments in the WWE, being a ring announcer, you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time; Rosey and Jamal got her with the Samoan drop.
Molly Holly joins the show:
Molly Holly joined the show and Josh asked her if she considers herself the sexiest bald Superstar in the WWE? Molly said that she doesn't know because there are a lot of them. Lilian said that she doesn't know if there is any other diva that could pull this off and look as good as Molly Holly.
Josh asked Molly what's going on with her and Tom Cruise as an item? Molly claimed that she's getting calls left and right from celebrities. Lilian said that she's jealous of Molly because she really likes Tom Cruise.
They went to a caller and the caller said that since she did lose the match at Wrestlemania and she did get her head shaved, did she donate her hair to locks of love? Molly said that she looked that up on the internet and it turns out that her hair wasn't long enough and it can't be swept off the floor, which her hair was. She still does have her hair and she's thinking about what she can do with it. Josh and Lilian pointed out that she can sell it on eBay.
Josh asked Molly what her family's reaction was to her getting her head shaved? Molly said that her parents didn't care either way because her mom had her head shaved on chemotherapy a couple years ago, so they had a perspective on it and they didn't care if she had her head shaved.
Another caller asked Molly if she ever plans to compete with men? Molly said there's been a few scenarios on RAW where they have had Intergender tag team matches, so she's been able to mix it up with the men a little bit but as far as competing with the men on a regular basis, she doesn't think she's tough enough. She's looking to have a long career so she's trying to avoid being killed in that scenario.
Lilian said that there are rumors that Shelton Benjamin has a crush on her. What does she think about that? Molly said that when she first heard that, she was flattered because not only is he a great wrestler, but he's tall, dark and handsome and Josh asked if there's anything going to happen between her and Mr. Benjamin? Molly said to check out the rumor reports on that one!
When you look back on your first WWE match, Starla vs. Jacqueline, how do you look at that match? Molly said that match is actually available on Before they were Superstars Volume 1. She loves watching that match because it's fun for her to watch to see how hard she tried to beat her and get her big break then. Other than her outfit being hideous, she thinks it was a good match and she's proud of it.
After being shaved, how much time does she take to get ready since there's a lot less hair to dry and does she share bald stories with other WWE Superstars like Kurt Angle or Stone Cold? Molly said that it's nice to be able to sleep an extra half hour and she's thankful that she doesn't have to use the rollers anymore. She hasn't shared any bald tips but she has gotten a few other compliments from the bald Superstars. They joked about it a little bit and Teddy Long made comments to her but they haven't shared any skull treatments or anything.
They wrapped it up with Molly Holly and you can see her on Monday Night RAW.
In the studio, Josh Mathews was wearing a WWE Championship and Lilian Garcia said that people want to know why he's wearing a belt? Josh joked, saying that if you don't know, watch Smackdown! tonight. In all seriousness, it was just sitting over there and he picked it up.
Josh read an email and it asked if Lilian plans to do a concert anytime soon? Lilian said that she misses doing concerts. She's been on stage since she was 5 years old and she joined her first band when she was 14. Right now, most of her time is spent in LA recording the album and she's spending all her time on that. She has to do all that first and then get the band together to go out and do the shows.
Droz joins the show:
Droz joined the show and yesterday was his birthday so Lilian Garcia and Josh Mathews sang "Happy Birthday" to Droz. Droz talked about his birthday and how he got to see people he hasn't seen in a long time.
Josh read a note and it asked Droz if he'd ever consider having a hair vs. hair match? Droz said why not. It's only hair and it grows back and he had most of his hair cut off when he got hit by a guitar and cut up by Jeff Jarrett back in the day. Of course he'd have a hair vs. hair match because it grows back but if you have nice hair, you should hope you don't lose.
Lilian noted that they are getting ready to go to Edmonton in Backlash and Chris Benoit will defend the World Heavyweight Title in his hometown. How does it feel to wrestle in your hometown? Droz said that it's a great feeling because you get friends and family there and it gives you an unbelievable feeling that says you're unstoppable. When you're in front of friends and family, you want to go above and beyond and this is going to be a case of Chris Benoit having to go above and beyond, especially considering who his opponents are. With his hometown behind him, Droz feels that Chris Benoit will do well.
Lilian Garcia asked Droz, who is more passionate as far as fans? Canadian fans or American fans? Droz said that he thinks the Canadians have something in their head and he doesn't know what it is. Passion wise, he's going to go with Americans and he thinks they're a little off key in Canada with their minds when it comes to wrestling events. Definitely Americans, but the Canadians have something going on that makes them a little off, and that's not a bad thing. Most wrestling fans are a little off, including Droz himself. Lilian said that when she goes to Canada, she sings the Canadian national anthem and they get so excited that she's singing their anthem.
Josh asked Droz what can we expect in the column this week? Droz said he talked about Shelton a little bit last week and he's been around for a while but he's definitely making his mark on RAW. They wrapped it up with Droz and he'll be back on next week's show.
They went to a caller and the caller pointed out to Lilian that Rue DeBona is coming out to Lilian's song "Shout" and Lilian didn't know that and she got excited about that.
Another caller asked Lilian who she would do a duet with if she could? Lilian named someone in the Spanish market and then she brought up people like Limp Bizkit, Scott Stapp from Creed or the lead singer of Puddle of Mudd or even Fred Durst.
Josh Mathews read an email question and it was about shopping. Lilian said that she likes to go shopping and since they get to go around to these different places, she gets to go shopping anywhere in the world and it's great. Of course, she lives in New York City and she does a lot of shopping there. She has gone shopping with Trish and they went to the Mall of America and they did their shopping and riding the roller coasters. She goes with Trish, Ivory, Molly, Victoria and everyone loves to go shopping, so it's great.
They went to another caller and the caller said many years ago, Lilian used to be a fan of Ric Flair. What's it like to work with him now? Lilian said that she didn't watch the show for such a long time and when she came on the job, she didn't know who these people were and they were just people to her. But when Ric Flair stepped on the stage, she totally marked out and he was really nice to her. Her dad did the same thing. Her and her dad used to watch it together and they went to one of the matches in South Carolina and her father was backstage and he was marking out for Ric Flair. Ric Flair is amazing and is such a nice guy to work with and you can't put into words as to how incredible a person he is.
This past Monday night, the King said that Ric Flair was a better ring announcer than Lilian Garcia. Lilian said fortunately, Ric Flair has more money than she did so obviously he paid off the King to say that. She loves Ric but he obviously has to get himself over. Right?
Kurt Angle joins the show:
Kurt Angle joined the show and Lilian asked him what he thought of Jerry Lawler's comment? Kurt laughed, saying Ric Flair isn't even close. Josh asked Kurt how he's feeling? Kurt said that he's doing well. His body needs some time to heal and he hopes to be back in the ring really soon. As far as the General Manager, he wants to do that for as long as he can. Hopefully he'll be able to wrestle and do the General Manager role at the same time. Lilian said that Kurt Angle likes to have control so General Manager and control goes together, so Kurt must be having a ball calling the shots. Kurt said calling the shots is something that he's always dreamed of. To be able to be the head of a show like Smackdown!, it's a dream.
Kurt pointed out that if he stays on as the General Manager and gets back in the ring, he could give himself a shot at the WWE Title anytime he wanted and he may be able to keep it longer. Lilian asked Kurt if he feels he picked the wrong surgery? Kurt said that the surgery he had was a very huge success. The problem he has now is a different problem with his neck. If he had the fusion, he wouldn't have as much flexibility. He feels that he did the right move but his neck is much worse than that of the other wrestlers because of his broken neck in 1996. He has a lot of levels that he has to deal with and he can't fuse one high and one down low so the only thing he can do is continue to try to do the right thing by letting it heal and hopefully when the time comes, he'll be able to wrestle. And if he can't wrestle, he'll have to accept that and the doctors don't want to do surgery again and they say he should be ready to go in a couple months, so hopefully he will be able to.
They went to a caller and the caller asked Kurt if he thinks Charlie and Shelton would be as successful as they are now when Team Angle started? Kurt said yeah. All they needed when they came in was a little jump start and the whole idea of them being teamed up with Kurt would catapult them to the main event. It did that to a degree but then they had to carry themselves. Shelton is really proving himself on RAW and Charlie is starting to prove himself on Smackdown!. Teaming them up with him helped him to a certain degree but you can only go so far with it as they'll now need to help themselves.
Josh asked Kurt what he feels about Brock Lesnar's decision to leave the WWE? Kurt said that Brock Lesnar is a young wrestler and he's pretty much done it all. Kurt feels like Brock is not quite as mature as a lot of people would be having the accomplishments he had. He's come to a point in his life where he's done well in everything and he wonders what else he could do good at? Football has been a goal of his but he hasn't given it a lot of thought. He's going to tackle that and succeed in that and see what else he can do. Brock is one of Kurt's good friends and Brock was one of the greatest wrestlers in the WWE and for him to leave that, it shows a lot of bravery but foolishness as well. Will he make it in the NFL? He will but he'll be back in the WWE one day. People are betting against Brock in the NFL but they don't know him. Brock is an all around athlete and probably one of the better athletes to ever step foot in the NFL. All he needs to do is learn the skills he's going to need but he has great instinct so he's going to be a phenom in football too. Lilian said the thing with that too is that he probably had this in the back of his mind the whole time and when you have a goal in the back of your mind, it's probably best that you do try it because he can come back to the WWE because when he does come back, his slate will be clean and his focus will be nothing but on the WWE.
They went to a caller and the caller spoke about how Smackdown! seems to be suffering. Does Kurt think there is an unfair advantage between shows? Kurt said to a certain degree. Smackdown! produced a lot of wrestlers that went over to RAW and continued over there. There has been a lot of guys that Smackdown! lost to RAW and they continued to make Superstars on Smackdown! and hopefully they won't go to RAW. They are trying to separate the brands completely and hopefully they will be able to do that. In the beginning, RAW has always had bigger names and Smackdown! has always been the better wrestling show. If you don't believe in that, you're sick in the head. Right now on Smackdown!, you're going to see guys stepping it up and there are going to be new guys coming in from OVW, so it isn't going to take long for Smackdown! to compete against RAW again. The Undertaker is also back and that is going to help them big time. RAW also has some part timers who come in for TV and pay per views and they don't play that game on Smackdown!. Everybody tries to work as a team and they take pride in that. Undertaker, because of his limited schedule is like the only guy that won't go full time. Most of their guys earned their stripes and when you watch them on TV, that's the product you are going to see at house shows. Even though Kurt Angle isn't wrestling, he's still working a full time schedule. He goes to every house show, TV and pay per view.
Kurt noted that he is coming back. He isn't just going to be General Manager. He will come back to wrestle and he will wrestle for Smackdown! and he can guarantee that.
They wrapped it up with Kurt Angle and you can see Kurt Angle tonight on WWE Smackdown!.
Next week, Dr. Tom returns, Triple H will be live in the studio and Randy Orton will be on the phone! That does it for this week's show and we will be back next week.
Credit: Kevin Gregg of FOX Sports PowerWrestling.com
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