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My thoughts go out to the family and friends of Luna Vachon. She was one of the greatest in the business and one of the nicest, most sincere people I ever met outside the ring. I am in shock.
When the concept of our Independent Wrestling Hall of Fame was developed in 2004, the first woman to be inducted was the easiest choice we ever had to make. Without a doubt it had to be Luna. To see her HoF page, click here.
Former WWE performer Gertrude Vachon (a/k/a Luna Vachon) died this morning at her mother’s home in Florida. She was 48. TMZ.com reports that Vachon was found dead by her mother at approximately 10 a.m. this morning, according to law enforcement officials. Authorities currently do not believe there was any foul play involved in her passing. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.
WWE.com posted the following statement:
Luna Vachon passes away
Written: August 27, 2010
World Wrestling Entertainment has been made aware of the passing of Gertrude (Luna) Vachon. WWE extends its deepest condolences to the Vachon family.
Ms. Vachon was under contract with WWE at various times from 1993 through 2000, and performed under the name Luna Vachon. She last performed for WWE in early 2000.
Below are some comments posted by wrestlers in regards to the death of former WWE Diva Luna Vachon:
Natalya Neidhart: Yeah, I'm just so saddened- my heart goes out to Luna Vachon and her whole family. She will be missed and always remembered
Gangrel: angelle you where to good for this world! my forever friend im truly going to miss you! you are a wild flower that should never been picked
Goldust: Luna was as freaky as me maybe even more; love her and will miss her; hopefully she’s in a better place
Shawn Michaels: My prayers go out to the family of Luna Vachon. God Bless you Luna.
Howard Finkel: My sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of Luna Vachon on her passing.
Chris Daniels: RIP Luna! Your intensity in the ring was matched by your kindness in the locker room.
-------
The following was sent in by Bobby Riedel
and Johnny Ova:
The news of Luna Vachon's death made my heart sink, and I immediately
had a hard time breathing. I happened to be driving when I got the call,
and I went into anxiety mode. Luna and I were very good friends. We were
probably closer than most, and for anyone else who got that close with
her; I am sure we are all feeling the same thing. Yes, Gertrude Vachon
was tough. Real tough. You would not want to cross her. Even in the ring,
she def knew how to work "stiff", but you always walked away
learning something. I remember one time in which I was managing Terry
Taylor in Wilcox, Arizona in 117 degree weather, and opposite me was Luna
managing a guy named "Vizzion". Simple spot: Grab my ankles
when I'm on the apron and I'll take a head bump on the canvas. Well, not
only did she do that, she proceeded to beat me up all around the ring!
This event happened to take place in a Rodeo Arena so there was approx
2,000 fans there. She then flung me into the metal fencing that went around
the arena, kicked me in the gut, punched me in the face, then flipped
me over her head and into a puddle of mud (and God knows what else at
a rodeo arena)!!! The crowd was off the charts. Going wild. When we get
to the back, all the boys were laughing. Ted DiBiase was on the phone
with his wife Melanie and told her, "Bobby and Luna just stole the
show". I look at Ted who can barely speak from laughter.. and said,
"Um, that was a shoot Ted". To which now the Big Boss Man, Greg
Valentine, Ox Baker, and the Tonga Kid chimed in and started to laugh
as well. The joke was on me.
I have so many memories of this sort of thing. I am not a wrestler at
all, however, one time in Minnesota I had to be in a "Handicap Match"
with her. It was Johnny Ova and I taking on Luna at Club 3 Degrees. It
was a "Cry Baby" match to boot....well, again....she tore me
to shreds. Here I am, just trying to dodge her the whole time...I was
legit terrified to do this match since I barely survived Arizona. Didn't
know what Luna was going to do. Anyway, she gave me a swinging neck breaker,
then shoved a baby pacifier so far up my mouth I thought she was going
to make me digest it. The story goes on from there, but I'll spare you
the details.
Then there was another side to "Angel" as many called her. There
was this motherly, gentle, sweet, concerned side. I will echo the words
that Missy wrote in her tribute. She was always thinking about other people.
She was always looking out for the younger people. She was not a "Diva"
at all. However, she demanded respect. She, was without question, was
one of the most genuine people I ever knew in this industry, and respect
of the industry was on the top of her list. She always told us to respect
the past, and she would teach and pass down all she learned from those
she got to work with. She had tremendous respect for Boris Malenko, the
Hart's, and all her years working overseas. She even helped give younger
guys coming up the chance to shine in Japan just by her making a phone
call. This was the woman behind the tatoos and scratchy voice.
Another fond memory I have of her was when a group of us headed out to
the AIM Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. It was at this 5 day retreat that
she turned her life over to God and got baptized. She was so genuinely
happy, and received so much healing over those 5 days that everyone saw
the change in her overall countenance. From that point on, she got to
do several ministry events for World Impact Wrestling, Ted DiBiase's Power
Wrestling Alliance, and the now defunct PWR in Long Island. She spoke
of the pain she had experienced in her life, and advised the fans to learn
from her mistakes. One night, Johnny Ova, Luna, and I were asked to speak
to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We were flown down to bring them
hope. Here we are in the gulf coast, and we see the complete ruin as we
were driven around the New Orleans area. When we got to the location,
we walked passed what looked to be small sheds...these were "homes"
for the victims who lost everything. A tent was nearby in which they were
fed by the Red Cross. It didn't take long for Luna to get choked up. We
all did. When it came time to speak to the "homeless" families
that were basically living on the coast at this point, like a pro, Luna
walked around hugging everyone, and shared once again how she lost a lot
of significant things in her life, and how she was able to get through
it, and where her faith is today.
This is getting longer than expected, but there is just so much. She has
slept at my house countless times, she always pushed to go to a diner
when she hung out with my friend Rob and I, she taught wrestling seminars
to a small wrestling school, and always sent little "notes of love"
to me via snail mail to encourage me. She was truly a "den mother"
to many, and she always had my back. One thing I always knew and never
questioned was her devotion and loyalty to me. Always came to my defense,
and always knew what to say to make me smile again. We had so many things
in common, and because of that....she knew what to say and do. We were
therapists to each other, we were best friends, we were prayer partners.
She was who I tuned to when I needed advice about the business...she truly
knew what she was talking about, and after speaking with her I always
had peace of mind as to what to do. I am so glad I have all her notes
and a lot of home video of our crazy times together....including a food
fight between she and I with my birthday cake...and if you know anything
about the Vachon family....they loved food fights!
I will miss her more than words. My last call to her was 3 weeks ago.
One of the last things she said to me was, "When you go to London,
you have to visit Royal Albert Hall and put your hands on the arena and
feel the energy. I worked there, my parents worked there. Do this for
all the boys and take a picture". Well, I did what she wanted me
to do, but sadly, she never got to see the picture. However, her memory
will forever live within me. Thank you for reading.
The following is from Johnny Ova:
"The news of the passing of Luna Vachon is two-fold for me. It was
such an honor to have known her and to have wrestled her and to get my
beat up by her...a lot...but the most important thing that I have ever
done with her was to stand on a platform and speak the Truth about our
amazing God and touch the lives of people. When I first heard the news
it really hit home to me and a sense of sadness had come over me because
when someone dies you miss them and who they are as a person and Luna
was a very special woman. But the truth of it is, today was the most amazing
day in her existence...today is the day she met Jesus...she is literally
sitting with God...like right now! The story of her life should be a testimony
to us all. That nobody is perfect but if you just do your best and keep
your head up and trust in Jesus with all your heart...nothing will or
can stop you."
-Johnny Ova
-------
Missy Hyatt talks about Luna Vachon here!
When I heard that Luna Vachon passed away from Bill Apter, I was devastated.
Luna was such a great person that had been forgotten by many wrestling
fans after her quiet retirement in 2007. I spent the better part of Friday
grieving. I loved Luna to death. We would run in to each other on & off
over the last 14 years. Our lives might have gone in a million different
directions, but we always clicked in getting along.
I met Luna during 1996, during the ill fated AWF based out of Chicago.
Luna would walk up to with that gravely voice that I originally thought
was her being in character 24/7. Nope, the voice was legit. I helped Luna
with her wig, since she was playing the character of Peggy Sue with Honky
Tonk Man. She thanked me after we got the wig down right & said “I heard
that you are the biggest bitch in wrestling, but I like you”. Luna won
me over as a friend for life that day.
I always felt some what guilty that when the valet craze was big, novices
like me would get national TV stardom in comparison to Luna Vachon who
was a second generation wrestler. Luna had to break her ass in the dying
days of Florida, low pay offs in Memphis, & being one of the few regular
Americans in JWP. Luna didn’t take crap from anybody & had no problems
putting anybody in their place if she felt she was disrespected. She earned
everything she got in wrestling from hard work & making herself unique.
Luna was one of the few American women wrestlers that made it on her own
by refusing to be booked with Fabulous Moolah’s troupe. Luna balked at
the premise of giving a cut of her money if she was the one taking the
bumps & making the long drives. Luna’s hard work paid off when most of
us first saw her in WWF in 1993 with her feud with Sensational Sherri.
Sherri is one of the most universally respected women that had ever entered
this business. I remember reading an interview in which Sherri put over
Luna over to WWF when the premise of working with Luna was presented to
her. Keep in mind that WWF in 1993 had not really exploited the cat fight
craze that WCCW & UWF had presented prior to WWF.
Many people credit Sunshine & Precious with pioneering the cat fights
in 1984. I say Sherri & Luna perfected it in 1993. They were beyond stiff
on their famous cat fight on RAW to the point that I questioned why it
took anybody so long to hire Luna on a big stage. She had a unique character
that would still stand out in 2010. Her promos were not an artistic success
[they could be best compared to Ultimate Warrior], but she had something
that you couldn’t keep your eyes off of with the crazy hair, tattooed
veins on the head, & scary voice
People fail to forget what a great worker Luna could be at times. I remember
Luna worked an indy show against Alicia towards the end of her career
in 2007. Luna put on a brawl that was reminiscent of Bruiser Brody in
the 1980’s in which they tore the building apart. Both wrestlers made
the most jaded fan suspend their belief for a few minutes at the stiffness
of the match. At the end of Alicia taking a stiff beating, Luna would
put her over cleanly. In the end, Luna was over for being a crazy brawler
& Alicia had her stock rise to the local fans for beating an established
star.
I remember Luna & others telling me about the infamous fight she had with
Alundra Blayze in 1994. Alundra would work too stiff with Luna nightly
with the excuse that she was working “Japanese style. One night, Luna
could take no more & beat the hell out of Blazye for not lightening up.
The end result was that they never had a problem in the ring ever again.
In 2007, I was busting Luna’s chops about her biker boyfriend at the time
being possibly an anti-semite. I was just doing it to see if I could get
a rise out of Luna. Luna would call me up a few days later & say “F*CK
this sh*t about the Jews & The Hells Angels, I still love you no matter
what”.
Too bad not many people saw the kinder side of Luna, since she would probably
be pissed that it would kill off her character. Luna was such a sweet
heart that she would offer a friend of a wrestler a couch to crash on,
since being a friend of Luna was enough for her to go out of her way for
a stranger. Luna would go out of her way to look after a young referee
that got sick from partying with the other wrestlers. Luna had such a
kind heart that she looked after the young referee because she didn’t
want him to lose his job at the start of his career.
I love Luna for willing to fight New Jack when he went on his drunken
tirade on me at last years Ring Roast. Luna had more guts then almost
any wrestler that night in refusing to back down in the confrontation.
She earned my life time loyalty for sticking up for me. I remember after
the Roast, Luna apologizing that she should have beaten New Jack up. Luna
would then pause, then blurt out that she just found out that she’s a
grandma. I was amazed how Luna could switch modes from wanting to kick
ass to being ecstatic that she now got a grandson. Unfortunately that
night would be the last time I would run in to Luna.
A couple of weeks ago, I found out that Luna lost all of her belongings
in a fire. I tried to make every phone call & email to track down Luna
to help her out. Unfortunately I could not get in touch with her to find
out what kind of clothes that I could mail her. I felt terrible that all
I could do for Luna was find her post office address & put up a plug for
where to send any donations.
I think it was rather funny that when I was writing about the kindness
of Luna that my computer crashed. I thought for a moment that maybe it
was divine intervention that Luna didn’t want me exposing that she was
a sweet heart despite the rough exterior. I hope Luna’s sons are aware
that their mother was one of the toughest-big hearted woman that I had
ever encountered in the business.
I always think the best way to remember a wrestler life is to watch highlights
of their career as a remembrance and a thank you for all of the sacrifices
they made to entertain all of us. I listed some youtube links of Luna.
link
#1
link #2
link
#3
link #4
link #5
link
#6
link #7
I finished writing this article on Friday & I cried my eyes out for almost
an entire day. I loved Luna for being one of the most genuine people that
I ever met in the business. I hope many other friends, fans, wrestlers,
& family members of Luna have just as many fond memories of Luna that
I have.
Please pardon any typos or grammatical errors. I wrote this article from
the heart. I wanted to share my thoughts & memories on one of the nicest
people I ever met in the biz.
Missy Hyatt
1st. Lady Of Wrestling
www.missyhyatt.net
missyhyatt@live.com
