J.D. Miller

Jonny Appleton

**Jonathan Andrew 'Jonny' Davis** (born March 8th, 1998), better known by his ring names **J.D. Appleton** and **J.D. Miller** is a British-American professional wrestler.

A newcomer to the professional wrestling industry, having only finished his training and graduating from his wrestling school in 2016, Appleton has yet to make a major impact on the wrestling world as of yet, but has featured in multiple shows across the British independent circuit and has even branched into shows in the USA due to his current residence in Jacksonville, Florida.

Despite his newcomer status in the industry, Appleton has become known for the portrayal of his metal-head character, which has garnered him some specific praise from genre fans who praise his knowledge of the wider music industry and general wrestling fans who praise his fast-paced in-ring work and unbelievable aerial offence.

## Early Life

Jonathan Davis was born in Jacksonville, Florida in the United States. His mother, Hannah (née McKinley), is from Bristol, England, and his father, Chris Davis, is from Florida. Appleton's maternal grandparents are also from the United Kingdom, but have both English and Irish heritage. His parents moved the family, which included him, his parents, his older brother and their paternal grandfather, from the United States to Great Britain when he was five years old after they made the decision to be more around the family's maternal relatives.This decision was made due to the considerable amount of time that Davis and his brother would not see his other relatives if the family continued to live in the United States. Because of this, Davis was brought up in Bristol, England.

Due to his birth in Jacksonville in Florida and his life in England from the age of five, Davis actually holds dual-citizenship from both the United States and the United Kingdom, effectively making him British-American instead of one or the other. Davis has said that he likes the sound of 'British-American' because it makes him sound a lot 'different' than others that would normally choose to either be British or American and also because he respects his heritage as being both maternally British and paternally American.

Davis' father worked in the music industry and was constantly away from home doing his job as a roadie for bands in the area, while his mother was a teacher at the local elementary school in Jacksonville. During his time at Redland Green high school in Bristol, Davis juggled both his participation with sports such as football, basketball and rugby with music lessons that he also took on the side, becoming an accomplished guitarist by the end of his time in senior education as well as the captain for his school's football team.

Putting the music to the side, however, Davis decided to become a professional wrestler instead and began to actively seek training from someone that could teach him. Davis' love of wrestling came through his one of his uncles, who was a fan of the local British independent circuits. His parents had banned him from watching wrestling whenever it was on at their house, so he would go over to his uncle's to watch it, as well as being able to go with him to live shows whenever he wished. Due to this ability to go wrestling shows, Davis would become familiar to many of the long-standing members of the independent circuit who frequented the Bristol area of the scene, giving him tips on what he needed to do to become a professional wrestler.

## Professional Wrestling Career

### **Early Career**

At some point between the age of fifteen and seventeen, Davis met a man by the name of Brian J. Redford at a British independent show that his uncle had taken him to. Redford was a retired professional wrestler from back in the 1980s, where he went under a mask and the moniker 'the Red Rocket'. Talking with Redford about his love of professional wrestling and desire to enter the ring, Davis was able to convince the grizzled veteran, who offered him a spot at Redford's training school. Finding himself low on funds, Davis would work part-time in a local music records shop in Bristol to pay for half of the fee, while his uncle would cover the other half of the money that was needed. This would continue for a few years, up until Davis was eighteen.

Graduating from Redford's school only a few days after his eighteenth birthday, Davis would then work with him to customize his professional ring name, gear and gimmick. Eventually, after days of processing ideas and continually going back to the drawing board, Davis and Redford eventually came up with the name of 'Jonny Appleton' for the up-and-coming wrestling star, along with a metal-head gimmick to go with Davis' intense love of the heavy metal and hard rock genres of music.

> "The ring name? Heh, that's a good story. Brian and myself had stayed up for around a full night working on what could be good for me to wrestle under. The name eventually came to us after around six hours of straight 'thinking', give or take a few hours of drinking and laughter. The first name, Jonny, comes from my nickname...because my real name is Jonathan, and the surname actually comes from a bottle of beer that Brian had been drinking from. Anyway, the two things came together to form the basis of what would eventually become J.D. Appleton." - Jonathan Davis, 2017.
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Following the completion of the finishing touches, Appleton and Redford began to put his name out into the circling of the independent circuits. Soon enough, the fish began to bite. Within a couple of weeks, local promotions around the Bristol area began to reach out to Appleton for pay-per-appearance, one-night-only deals, mainly to see what he was made of and whether or not he was a worthy investment in their limited funds. Taking these opportunities, Miller made his official debut as 'Jonny Appleton' in November 2016 at age eighteen, with Redford by his side as his manager under his real name instead of his masked disguise as the Red Rocket, his retirement from competition active and in effect.

After around two months in the British independent circuit, in around January 2017, Appleton received news from his paternal family down in Jacksonville, Florida that there were local wrestling scouts in the area looking for brand new talent that they could use to excite their crowds. Taking the opportunity with both hands, Appleton decided to fly over to Jacksonville and pursue these scouts as best that he could, albeit without the aid and advice of Redford due to his commitments to the training school. Arriving in Jacksonville, his uncle was able to hook him up with a cheap rental apartment for a few weeks on behalf of a friend, which made it a whole lot easier for Appleton to begin to get his name out and about within the United States as he had done with the United Kingdom months prior.

## Personal Life

Davis is known for his heavy musical influences within the industry, which have morphed and molded the character that he plays within the independent circuits, which have garnered him recognition from both fans and veterans alike for it's different elements. A keen hard rock and heavy metal music fan, Davis credits his love for said music from stemming from his father, who was also a hard rock fan and a roadie for some famous stars in the industry during the 1990s, up until a few years after Davis was born. When asked, Davis cites bands such as UFO, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group and Blue Oyster Cult as some of the bands that have heavily influenced his style. However, he has also said he appreciates British rock groups such as Oasis and Blur and regards them as being able to 'exist on his Spotify playlist'.

Due to his time on both the American and British independent circuits, Davis has moved around a lot. Using the money he makes from wrestling his high-profile matches, Davis takes regular flights between Jacksonville, Florida and London, England before making the trip to Bristol to see his family. He has confirmed that, while he does rent a small-scale apartment in Jacksonville which he uses as his 'American HQ' and got on a deal thanks to a friend of a friend of the paternal line of his family, he also stays at his parents' house when staying over in Bristol for his British independent tours.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing Moves**
	+ *The Clash* (Leaping reverse STO) - 2017-present
	+ *Assault Attack* (Running axe kick) - 2017-present

* **Signature Moves**
	+ *Cries of a Nation* (Roundhouse kick) - 2017-present
	+ *Rainbow in the Dark* (Shining wizard) - 2017-present

* **Entrance Themes**
	+ **American independent scene**
		- **'Doctor Doctor'** by UFO - 2017-present
	+ **British independent scene**
		- **'Girls, Girls, Girls'** by Motley Crue