Bill Verna was born in
Perth, Western Australia in 1929. He moved to Belgium in 1947 and adopted freestyle wrestling as his profession. He also faced, but was defeated by,
Lou Thesz in a match that took place in
Brighton,
East Sussex. He then wrestled a series of matches against Jagindar Singh, defeating him in the main event of a show on 4 September and again on 16 October. The following January, he was again knocked out during a match in Singapore. Competing against Jejl Goldstein, he was hit and fell out of the ring and on to a fan at ringside. Two months later, he collapsed during a match; as a result, his opponent, King Kong, was awarded the victory. Verna fought more than 2000 wrestling bouts. In the mid-1950s, he wrestled in Pakistan as a
face. During this time, he was outspoken against the Pakistani media, as he objected to them always depicting local wrestlers controlling matches against foreign wrestlers. While competing against Pakistani wrestler
Akram Pahalwan, Verna's opponent suffered a dislocated left shoulder that forced Pahalwan to take a break from wrestling. Verna later held the British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship in the 1950s before
dropping the title to
Geoff Portz during a match in
Newcastle, New South Wales in 1959. He also defeated Phil Siki, the heavyweight champion of the West Indies, in a match at Cambridge Road Baths. In the summer of 1960, he headlined wrestling events held at the
California Ballroom in bouts against Francis Sullivan and Ray Hunter. In the 1960s, Verna appeared regularly on televised wrestling programs in Britain. These were some of the earliest televised matches broadcast in the United Kingdom and, between 1961–62, were promoted by
Joint Promotions. Among his opponents included Frankie Townsend and Bill Rawlings. He wrestled as a
heel and gained the hatred of many fans. In March 1966, Verna agreed to serve as a last minute replacement for the "flu-struck"
Wayne Bridges in his match against Dennis Mitchell at
Royal Albert Hall. Verna scored a submission victory in the second round but was knocked out by Mitchell in the next round. In Pakistan, where Verna spent most of his career, the journal
Ash Shuja featured Verna in a 1955 story. He was said to be "appreciated and admired as a player throughout the world". It also stated that he was "acknowledged with great respect among the famous wrestlers of the world". ==Championships and accomplishments==