During a recent interview with Character Media, WWE SmackDown Superstar Xia Li commented on hoping her new “Protector” character can inspire fans, The Rock being her role model, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On first getting interested in WWE: I was a fan when I was a child, because my role model is The Rock. I really love him, so that’s how I know about WWE. But I never thought I was going to be part of that. [laughs] One day I got the news that WWE was coming to China and having try-outs. I thought, “I know I don’t have that experience, but I want to try.” So, I had a four-day try-out in China, and I’m the one who got hired! I moved to America and the WWE Performance Center to train, practice and be part of the WWE family.
On her hopes to inspire fans with her character: “I had some issues when I was a child, so I want to protect myself and I want to protect my family. My dad died when I was 4 years old, and I have two sisters and one brother. My father’s job was to protect my family. When I feel I have power, I need to help people around me or just do what I can do, do my best to help people. There’s the culture of martial arts—when you have power, you should use your power to protect people, to do good things.
“Actually, I had a dream when I was a child. I wanted to be a superhero. When I started martial arts, [I thought,] ‘Oh, I can do this to protect myself and my family.’ So then I kept doing martial arts and competing, and I had a gold medal, a silver medal. I was competing a lot, so that gave me a lot of power [and made me] feel safe. This new character is what I want to do. The whole package that [WWE] put on TV is my real-life story, so I’m very happy to show the world. It’s my dream come true. There’s people who have been waiting for my new character, and finally they can see me.
