Lilian Garcia Reveals She Was Legitimately Injured by Stephanie McMahon’s Slap

Lilian Garcia has been back as part of the WWE family since October, and she has been responsible for several iconic moments in WWE history. This includes the time Stephanie McMahon slapped her and it appears Garcia was legitimately injured by McMahon’s slap.

While speaking on Ten Count Media, Lilian Garcia revealed that she was injured after Stephanie McMahon slapped her during a segment. She explained that she was told to keep her mouth shut during the slap but didn’t think much about it and stayed in character. Because her mouth was open, the slap caused her jaw to move, leaving it bruised for a while.

Luckily, it wasn’t dislocated, but it hurt to eat for some time. She also remembered hearing that Beth Phoenix once had her jaw dislocated by a slap from Victoria, showing how serious these slaps can be.

While it hurt, Lilian Garcia stated that the slap looked great on television, which was the most important thing. Garcia added that Stephanie McMahon was very apologetic backstage, checking if Lilian was okay and saying sorry multiple times. Lilian reassured her, saying it wasn’t a big deal and that it looked amazing on screen. However, she admitted it was partly her fault for not keeping her mouth shut as she was told.

“Well, they did tell me to keep my mouth shut when she slapped me. I was in character, so I didn’t think twice about it. But let me tell you, when you have your mouth open and get such an intense slap, my jaw moved, and I think that’s what happened. I remember hearing that Beth Phoenix—wasn’t it Victoria who slapped her one time?—actually dislocated her jaw. It’s a thing.

So yeah, it hurt really bad. Luckily, I didn’t dislocate it, but it was bruised for a while, and it hurt to eat. It was intense. But Steph was so sweet backstage. She kept asking, ‘Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, it looked amazing, and that’s what we need to focus on—how great it looked on TV.’

Backstage, I was just thinking, ‘It’s my fault because you guys told me to keep my mouth shut.’”

Even Ronda Rousey suffered a concussion after getting slapped by Stephanie McMahon, so it’s clear that McMahon’s slaps were more vicious than anyone could have imagined. Regardless, Lilian Garcia took it like a professional and held no ill will towards McMahon for the slap.

What are your thoughts on the risks performers and announcers take for the sake of entertaining the audience? Do moments like these add to the realism of WWE storytelling? Let us know in the comments below.

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