Has WWE Quietly Released Lilian Garcia?

Gossip making the rounds this past week suggests that long-term WWE ring-caller and occasional songstress Lilian Garcia may have made her final announcement.

Though Lilian herself has been quick to reaffirm her status with the company, making clear on Twitter that her current absence is the result of a 'family emergency', former WWE writer Court Bauer revealed to MLW Radio that the tenured announcer had been quietly released as part of the company's recent talent cuts.

Garcia noted via social media that she would be returning to Raw this Monday - but this could just be a case of her seeing out the remaining terms of her contract.

Lilian has had a storied time in WWE. Hired in 1999 solely as an announcer, it soon became apparent the company had other ideas for the photogenic Garcia; it was only three months before she was involved in an inevitable chocolate pudding match (that's the Attitude Era for you).

Unlike announcers from a bygone age (if we all gladly forget the Howard Finkel/Harvey Wippleman Tuxedo Match debacle), Garcia had an increasingly active role in on-screen angles, whilst her singing career helped define her as a full-fledged (and possibly legitimate) 'Diva'.

Garcia has left the company once before - she delivered an emotional retirement speech in 2009 after becoming the company's first 'decade Diva' (whatever that is supposed to mean). She was back between the ropes just two years later.

She returned to announcing Raw full-time in 2014 after Justin Roberts' departure from the company, but her second tenure has been blighted by misfortune. In addition to an unfortunate (hilarious) trip on SmackDown, a series of gaffes over the past year have seen the announcer repeatedly ridiculed by the commentary team - most notably after she announced The Usos as 'Grammy Award Winning'.

Having the commentary booth deride Garcia so viciously was probably the earliest indication that her time might be up. However, it was the post-WrestleMania Raw blow-up between Garcia and a member of the ring crew following her botched announcement of Zak Ryder's Intercontinental Title match that really put the writing on the wall for the ring singer. Silly Lilian. Sillian.

We know from the Titus O'Neil situation that WWE don't react rationally to minor incidents. If Garcia is gone, there's every chance the Raw incident was the catalyst for her departure.

At least Tony Chimel is still on the books.