His uncle, Wang Rui (王叡; died 189), served as the Inspector of Jing Province and was killed by the warlord Sun Jian.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Lü Qian, an official of the Cao Wei state serving as the Inspector of Xu Province, wanted to recruit Wang Xiang to be an Assistant Officer (別駕) under him.

In recognition of his achievements, Wang Xiang was nominated as a maocai (茂才; an outstanding civil service candidate) and appointed as the Prefect (令) of Wen County (溫縣; east of present-day Mengzhou, Henan).

As a reward for Wang Xiang's support, Sima Shi awarded him the title of a Secondary Marquis (關內侯) and appointed him as Minister of the Household (光祿勳), but later reassigned him to be Colonel-Director of Retainers (司隸校尉).

In 255, when the generals Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin started a rebellion in Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui), Wang Xiang accompanied Sima Shi as he led imperial forces to suppress the revolt.

In the same year, Sima Zhao restored the five-rank nobility system, which was previously abolished, and enfeoffed Wang Xiang as the Duke of Suiling (睢陵侯) with a dukedom comprising 1,600 taxable households.

After his coronation, Emperor Wu appointed Wang Xiang as Grand Protector (太保) and allowed him to keep his peerage as the Duke of Suiling.

By then, Wang Xiang, He Zeng (何曾), Zheng Chong (鄭沖), and some former Wei officials were already in their old age, so it was no longer convenient for them to regularly attend imperial court sessions.

Emperor Wu thus sent Ren Kai (任愷), then a Palace Attendant (侍中), to visit them and seek their advice on policy matters.