Gertrude Vachon, known professionally as Luna Vachon, was found dead earlier today at the age of 48.

Vachon was the daughter of Paul "The Butcher" Vachon and was a member of the famed Vachon wrestling family. Though her family was initially against her involvement in the professional wrestling business, Vachon began training to be a wrestler under her aunt Vivian and Lillian "The Fabulous Moolah" Ellison.

Her first big break occurred in the 80s when she became a member of Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness in Championship Wrestling from Florida, where she began teaming with Lock (also known as Winona Little Heart) as The Daughters of Darkness. After she'd left the Florida territory her father helped get her work in Japan, where she spent nearly three years.

Shortly after arriving back from Japan, she began managing The Blackhearts, a masked team consisting of her then husband Tom Nash and David Heath. They were one of the more successful independent tag teams of the early 90s, traveling all over the country and the world. Eventually though the team would split, Nash and Luna would divorce, and Vachon would end up in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

In the WWF, Vachon was paired with Bam Bam Bigelow. Their most notable feud as a pair was with Doink the Clown and his pint-sized pal Dink, resulting in a mixed tag match at WrestleMania 10, which they won. The pair would eventually break up, with joining up with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Not long after, Vachon was inserted into the newly rejuvenated women's division, acting as the biggest foe for champion Alundra Blayze (Madusa Micelli). After several unsuccessful attempts at winning the championship, Vachon brought in Bull Nakano and managed her in a successful campaign to win the championship. Vachon though would leave the WWF not long after Nakano won the championship.

It was around this time that she and David Heath, who by then began wrestling under the name The Vampire Warrior, had gotten married. The two traveled the country together, working for a variety of independent promotions. Vachon eventually would begin working for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where she aided Tommy Dreamer in his battle's with Raven and Stevie Richards. Her most memorable showing in ECW was probably her bloody steel cage match with Richards at Heatwave 1995, which she won. She'd wrap up her stay in ECW by that fall, and again began traveling all over the country with her husband.

In 1997, Vachon would find herself on the national stage for the first time since leaving the WWF years earlier, when World Championship Wrestling (WCW) started up their women's division after signing Madusa "Alundra Blayze" Micelli away from the WWF. Vachon though would last with the company for only a couple months and by years end was back in the WWF.

In her second run with the WWF, Vachon was first paired up with Goldust. The two would eventually feud with Marc Mero and his wife Rena "Sable" Mero, which lead to a mixed tag match at WrestleMania 14. Vachon would eventually break away from Goldust and became a member of The Oddities, a group of "freaks" that included Golga, Kurgan and The Insane Clown Posse, among others. She'd break about from the Oddities stable and again feuded with Sable, who was the WWF Women's champion at the time. The feud would be short-lived though, as behind the scenes tension between Vachon and Mero resulted in a fight between the two, resulting in Vachon's suspension.

She returned in the summer of 1999, managing her husband, who was wrestling for the WWF as Gangrel. She also continued wrestling occasionally in the women's division, but she was often lost in the shuffle and was increasingly becoming someone who fit less and less with the WWF's changing views on women and what they should look like. Her time with the company would end in 2000, as she was released reportedly due an outburst backstage.

She returned to the independent wrestling scene, where she was shortly joined by her husband, who also ended up getting released from the WWF. She became less and less active as the years went on, often taking long hiatuses from the business. In 2006, after 12 years of marriage, Vachon and Heath divorced, though the two remained friends. It was around this time that Vachon became active again in the business, taking bookings for a newly rejuvenated women's independent wrestling scene. Unfortunately her return to the ring would be short, as she re-aggravated an old neck injury during a match, leading to her announcing her retirement at the end of 2007.

Vachon was living with her mother in Florida at the time of her passing, as she'd lost her home and most of her belongings in a house fire earlier this month. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her father, two sons, and a granddaughter.

Indy Wrestling News sends our condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Gertrude "Luna" Vachon.