Professional wrestling lost its best friend with the passing last week of Georgiann Makropoulos.

“Georgie,” as she was known by nearly everyone in the business, died Monday at the age of 68 of a massive heart attack.

Along with her, I’m afraid, went a part of pro wrestling’s heart.

If you’re a casual fan of pro wrestling, chances are you may have never heard of Georgiann Makropoulos. She wasn’t a wrestler, a valet or an on-air personality. What she was, quite simply, was a delightful lady who spent more than half a century around the business — as a fan, a friend and a respected journalist.

I first crossed paths with then Georgiann Orsi nearly 45 years ago when I began writing for various wrestling publications. She was already established at that time, authoring her own fan club column in a national magazine, as well as serving as fan club president for stars such as Bruno, Buddy Rogers, Cowboy Bill Watts, Bob Orton Sr. and Bill Dromo.

Georgie was there long before the Net and the newsletters. While other wrestling writers and sheet editors went the way of the digital age years ago, Georgie continued to print and send out via snail mail her popular Wrestling Chatterbox newsletter every month, like clockwork.

The Chatterbox, which she started 22 years ago, was a fan-friendly, information-packed periodical in which members were more like family than subscribers, and whose pages contained random tidbits about the business in addition to a fan forum and monthly listing of wrestlers’ birthdays and personal appearances.

Georgie was able to make the transition to the Web, and wrote columns for prominent wrestling sites in addition to keeping the most accurate and comprehensive list of wrestling autograph and memorabilia events. In recent years she had dedicated a site of her own, wrestlingfigs.com, to the wrestling figurine business.

Her reach in the wrestling industry, though, extended well beyond the Internet and the pages of her monthly publication. She was a driving force for a number of independent wrestlers to get tryouts with major promotions, and even was involved in setting up contract negotiations. She literally touched fans in every corner of the globe.

She was a link bridging the generations from Bruno to Hogan to Austin to Cena, a common bond between eras, and although she had become disenchanted with the direction the industry had taken over the years, she nonetheless remained one of wrestling’s biggest boosters and always strove to make the profession a better place. Her admiration and love for “the boys” never waned.

Professional wrestling was a labor of love for Georgie, and those in the business loved her for it. No one ever had a bad word when talking about her. That’s a rarity in this profession, but it was true with Georgie.

Georgie, who had successfully battled cancer in 2004, served as a caring, motherly influence to many of the younger stars in the business, always willing to give advice, promote appearances and help them in their careers. She regularly undertook causes for wrestlers, and spearheaded a drive to raise money for Konnan’s hip replacement surgery and kidney transplant in 2007.

As expected there has been a tremendous outpouring of support and love for Georgie since news of her passing broke. That’s only natural, as she never failed to bid a fond farewell whenever the final bell tolled for a member of her extended wrestling family.

“I don’t know what I’ll do with out you Momma G ... you were my support, my ear, my momma. I love you,” Tammy “Sunny” Sytch wrote on her friend’s Facebook page.

“Thank you for being an awesome friend. It breaks my heart to know you’re not a phone call away anymore. I’m going to miss those calls. You did so much good in this world. I love you,” wrote Marc Mero.

I knew Georgie since I was a fan —- back in my teen years. She was the first Lady of Wrestling bar none,” posted longtime wrestling magazine editor Bill Apter. “She had a warm and wonderful heart and glowed with enthusiasm for this business no matter what phases it had gone through. I cannot believe she’s gone.

“The last time I talked to her was a few months ago. I called on her cell phone to discuss something but she couldn’t stay on the phone. She was busy cashing in her winnings at the Atlantic City casinos she loved so much! ‘Hi baby,’ she said. ‘I just hit it big on the slots again — talk to you later!’ I spoke to her a few days after that but I never thought it would be the last time. What a sad day for all of us.”

Georgie was well connected, to say the least, in the wrestling business. Her amazing circle of friends ran the gamut from top stars to newsletter editors, to those long retired and those new to the industry. Her sparkling personality and infectious spirit endeared her to all.

But she also could be delightfully saucy and use her tough-as-nails New York demeanor to tell it like it was. She had, after all, been around the business longer than most, and couldn’t be worked by the most seasoned practitioners in this smoke-and-mirrors profession.

What I’ll remember most about Georgie is how passionately she loved this business and the people in it. She was the quintessential fan. A link to the past that sadly is becoming all too rare in a world that moves steadily along.

If there ever was a “friend to the business,” it was Georgiann Makropoulos.

She truly was pro wrestling’s angel, and now she can be heaven’s. And with the best seat in the house.

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