WWE NXT: How spicy is Xia Li in Scoville Heat Units?

We take a look at just how spicy WWE NXT Superstar Xia Li is in Scoville Heat Units and how her spiciness compares to the world’s hottest peppers.

One of the standouts of the women’s division in WWE NXT is none other than Xia Li, who has continued to impress every time she’s gotten to exhibit her skill inside the squared circle. The first Chinese woman to ever compete in a WWE ring often refers to herself on Twitter as spicy, but just how spicy is she?

The widely accepted standard for measuring the spiciness of chili peppers is a scale which rates the concentration of capsaicinoids in Scoville Heat Units. The scale is named after Wilbur Scoville, who developed a method in 1912 called the Scoville organoleptic test.

The test is quite scientific, but in simple terms the peppers are dissolved in alcohol to extract the capsaicinoids (the compound that makes it spicy) and then diluted in sugar water. Once the process is done, the final result is measured and gives a value in Scoville Heat Units.

Since we can’t exactly dissolve Xia Li in alcohol, the best way to measure her spiciness would be a direct comparison to already ranked peppers. On the lowest end of the scale, with a usual measurement of 0 to 100 SHU (Scoville Heat Units) is the bell pepper.

First up, we can look at this video posted to Twitter by Xia Li with various photos throughout her career. Even in her pre-WWE photos, you can see the presence she’s carried into WWE NXT.

That likely puts Xia Li up a few rankings. The Jalapeno pepper ranks between 2,500 and 10,000 SHU and the Serrano pepper ranks between 10,000 and 25,000 SHU, both of which she certainly outranks.

As we push our way up the list, the next big grouping includes both the Cayenne pepper and Tabasco pepper which rank between 25,000 and 50,000 SHU. These peppers aren’t to be taken lightly, but looking at the strength and resilience Xia Li exhibits in this video, she surely pushes her way above them.

Two groupings above lands the infamous Habanero chili, which has an average of 100,000 to 350,000 SHU. While there are certainly spicier options, the Habanero is one of the most widely known super spicy peppers.

However, for as spicy as the Habanero is, Xia Li is spicier. You can see her determination and the inspiration she draws from Mulan and Mu Guiying in this post that also mentions her love of spicy food.

While the legend of Mulan is more well known due to the movies from Disney, having the spirit of Mu Guiying is equally impressive. She’s a legendary heroine of Chinese legend, and is known as brave, resolute, loyal, and the cultural symbol of a steadfast woman.

With all of these in mind, I’d place Xia Li at an average of 400,000 SHU. That puts her in the same field as the Red Savina habanero and Chocolate Habanero, but above the classic Habanero chili.

Still above Xia Li are the Bhut Jolakia chili pepper in the 750,000 to 1,500,000 range and the Carolina Reaper in the 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 range. She may not top the scale yet, but the sky is the limit for Xia Li in WWE NXT.

This spicy competitor seems to improve every time she steps in the ring, and it could just be a matter of time before we see her as NXT Women’s Champion. In due time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Xia Li shoot up the board with a ranking of over 3,000,000 SHU.