Xia Li

In January 2017, Li joined the WWE Performance Center after she had impressed talent scouts at a tryout in Shanghai, China. In 2017, Li made her debut for WWE competing in the inaugural Mae Young Classic. Wrestling at this event made her the first Chinese woman to ever compete in a WWE ring. Li was eliminated in the first round. In 2018, Li competed in her second Mae Young Classic and was eliminated in the second round. Throughout 2017 and 2018, Li only wrestled at *NXT* live events outside of the Mae Young Classic. In January 2019, Li competed in her first Royal Rumble match, the second ever women's Royal Rumble. She then made her *NXT* television debut on the February 20, 2019 episode, losing in a singles match to Mia Yim. On the May 1, 2019 episode of *NXT*, Li picked her first televised win by defeating Rachel Evers. In mid-November, she began a feud with Aliyah and Vanessa Borne, getting back-to-back singles victories over the duo on the November 13 and 27 episodes of *NXT*, the latter of which saw her get attacked by NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke afterwards. The attack led to a non-title match on the following week of *NXT*, with Li losing to Baszler by submission. She would compete in the women's Royal Rumble match again at the namesake event on January 26, 2020, entering at number twenty-four and lasting ten minutes, before being eliminated by Baszler. Li fought with Yim again on the February 26 episode of *NXT*, this time winning the match with a roll-up after a distraction from Dakota Kai and Raquel González.

On the March 25 episode of *NXT*, Li was set to face Aliyah in a qualifier to compete in a ladder match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, but was injured by her backstage before the match started. This led to a brief match between the two on the April 15 episode of *NXT*, with Li getting revenge by defeating Aliyah. On the May 6 episode of *NXT*, Li had a match with Chelsea Green, which she lost due to a distraction from Aliyah. This led to another match between the two on the June 17 episode of *NXT*, with Aliyah getting the victory after Robert Stone distracted Li by vomiting in the ring. On the September 16 episode of *NXT*, she teamed up with Jessi Kamea in a losing effort against Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro, with Li refusing to shake hands with them after the match. The following week, she competed in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Candice LeRae. Li went against Carter on the September 30 episode of *NXT*, losing the match and pushing her to the mat after being extended a hand. The following week, after losing a match against Shotzi Blackheart, she was approached by Boa, who gave her a letter and followed him afterwards. On the October 21 episode of *NXT*, Li lost a match against Catanzaro. After the match, she attacked her and Carter, thus turning heel for the first time in her WWE career.

On the November 25 episode of *NXT,* a vignette aired of Li and fellow *NXT* superstar Boa entering the backseat of a vehicle together before being driven to an unknown location. The same elderly man who handed Boa a letter on the November 11 episode of *NXT* appeared outside of the building, appearing to be waiting for them. Weekly vignettes began airing of both Li and Boa being brutally "punished for their failures", all while being watched over by the elderly man and a mysterious woman in black-and-white face paint.

A transformed Xia Li returned to *NXT* on the January 6, 2021 episode. Li had a new look and squashed her opponent in dominant fashion.  On January 13, she defeated another jobber in two strikes, but then was wordlessly given an order by their master on the stage, resulting in Li tying up the opponent and taking more shots at her. On February 10, Xia defeated Cora Jade in quick fashion. During and after the match, Catanzaro and Carter came out to the ring to reason with her but she attacked them both for disrespecting her master Mei Ying. Li went on to defeat both Catanzaro and Carter in singles bouts on the February 24 and March 10 episodes of *NXT* respectively, and beat them again in a handicap match three weeks later. In June, Li went on to feud with Mercedes Martinez over losing to her in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, defeating her in a match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. On the June 29 episode of *NXT*, she teamed with Boa to defeat Martinez and Jake Atlas in a mixed tag team match. On the July 20 episode of *NXT*, Li challenged Raquel González for the NXT Women's Championship, but failed to win. During the match, she suffered an injury following a springboard senton splash, but appeared to be okay afterwards.

As part of the 2021 Draft, Li was drafted to the *SmackDown* brand. She made her main roster debut on the December 10 episode of *SmackDown*, as a face, protecting Naomi as she fought off Sonya Deville, Natalya, and Shayna Baszler. On the February 25, 2022 episode of *SmackDown*, Li made her in-ring debut by defeating Natalya. After weeks of inactivity, Li turned heel in a segment on the April 22 episode of *SmackDown*, stating that no one was worthy of protecting and that she was only focused on protecting herself. On the June 3 episode of *SmackDown*, Li competed in a six-pack challenge to determine the number one contender to the SmackDown Women's Championship, which was won by Natalya. The following week, she failed to qualify for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match after losing to Lacey Evans. Li made her debut on the *Raw* brand on the June 27 episode, competing in a Last Chance six-way elimination match to qualify for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, but was eliminated first by Becky Lynch.

On the August 5 episode of *SmackDown*, Li competed in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender to Liv Morgan's SmackDown Women's Championship, which was won by Shayna Baszler. The following week, she teamed with Shotzi to participate in the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship tournament for the vacant tag titles, but were eliminated by Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah. On the August 26 episode of *SmackDown*, Li teamed with Shotzi again to compete in a Last Chance fatal four-way to be in the semifinal match of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship tournament later that night, which was won by Natalya and Sonya Deville. On the September 9 episode of *SmackDown*, she competed in a five-way elimination match to determine the number one contender to Morgan's SmackDown Women's Championship at Extreme Rules, which was won by Ronda Rousey. On the November 11 episode of *SmackDown*, Li competed in a six-pack challenge to determine the number one contender to Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship at Survivor Series WarGames, which was won by Shotzi. On the December 23 episode of *SmackDown*, Li competed in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contender to Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship, eliminating Emma and Tegan Nox, before being eliminated herself by eventual winner Rodriguez. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023, Li entered at number fourteen, eventually being eliminated by Zelina Vega. On the March 24 episode of *SmackDown*, Li teamed with Lacey Evans and fought Natalya and Shotzi to determine who would qualify for the women's fatal four-way tag team match at WrestleMania 39, but failed to win.

Li was drafted to the *Raw* brand in the 2023 WWE Draft. On June 8 episode of *Main Event*, Li lost to Candice LeRae.