On August 27th, 2010, we lost Angelle “Luna” Vachon. So young at only 48. Her given name was Gertrude. But she was too lovely a person to be saddled with it.
So I never called her that when she was driving some of us to shows on the road trips, or just hanging out. I remember the always smiling “Angel” backstage at Joel Goodhart’s TWA shows in Philadelphia and WWF asking me to show her my 70’s shots of her beautiful aunt Vivian Vachon, wrestling all over the territories as the anti-Moolah of sorts.
As Luna wasn’t part of “Moo Moo’s Stable,” she had fewer opponents. The women she faced included – Betty Nicolli and Kay Noble. Jean Anton, Rachel Dubois, and Ann Casey are just a few.
Angel/Luna did love re-telling the gentle ribs her dad Paul and Uncle Mad Dog Maurice used to play on the boys in the Montreal Grand Prix locker rooms.
These included a few on a then green Andre the Giant, Don Leo Jonathon, the Leduc’s, and, of course, Maurice’s great friend Walter “Killer” Kowalski. Luna thought Walter was the greatest heel of all time next to the Sheik, who she idolized along with Ed Carpentier.
Vachon was unlike the character she portrayed. She was rich & warm a far cry from her character. Sure Angel made herself up both in makeup and costume to look “monster-ish”.
But without all that, she was usually a quiet, almost person-next-door. Who “loved my dogs more than any of the men I’ve been with!”
Luna Vachon | An Angel with A Broken Wing
Many paid tribute to her after her passing from former Florida padre performers Kevin and Nancy Sullivan, Lock, Bob Roop, and even the usually private Mark Lewin. Jim Ross had a lot of nice things to say about her:
“When Luna reported to me in WWE’s Talent Relations many, many years ago; she was a hard-working, passionate, almost obsessive performer who had the wrestling business in her blood.
Her family, the Vachons, will always be known as one of the best known ‘wrestling families’ in the business.
Luna told me that being a wrestler was the only thing that she ever wanted to do since she was a small child.
She said she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t want to wrestle for a living like the rest of her family.
At times, Luna was very hard on herself when she didn’t feel that she had the match that she wanted to have and was more often than not her own worst critic.”
Here, here. Luna Vachon indeed was a perfectionist. And a wonderful friend to those of us who were fortunate to have known her. And continue to miss her to this day. Nancy Sullivan also blogged at the time:
“Luna not only was a fantastic performer, but I was lucky enough to consider her a dear friend and will miss her greatly.
Luna was an integral part of my career, and I would not have succeeded without her. We’ve lost a great performer and an even greater person.”
Angel’s former TWA intergender tag partner Mick Foley and even longtime foe Debbie “Madusa” Micelli paid tribute. Luna and Mick had fought Madusa and her then-husband, Hotstuff Eddie Gilbert, on several major TWA spectaculars.
Steve “Austin” Williams said, “Luna was always a total sweetheart. She has passed away way too soon”. Even Shawn Michaels wrote at the time:” My prayers go out to the family of Luna Vachon. God Bless you.”
Luna Vachon was valued and she was loved. Her mark on the industry will forever hold a special place in the hearts of all those she knew and worked with.
