Chris Jericho has revealed that a meeting with TNA Wrestling executives played a key role in helping him negotiate a more lucrative return to WWE.

Speaking during a Dark Side of the Ring Q&A event in New York, Jericho was asked whether he had ever seriously considered joining TNA. While he admitted the possibility crossed his mind, he also explained that the meeting ultimately became valuable leverage during talks with Vince McMahon.

Jericho recalled arranging a meeting with Jeff Jarrett at a Cheesecake Factory in Tampa around 2007 while discussions with WWE were ongoing.

"We met at the Cheesecake Factory in Tampa, Florida. I was talking about going back to WWE. I'd been off for a couple of years. I think this was around 2007. At the time, Vince had the magic number for a salary. I won't say what that number was, but it was the highest you could get, no matter who you were.

"At that time, if you headlined and were a main eventer, you would make more money and so on, but there was a certain base number he wasn't coming close to. I thought, 'Well, let me see if I can arrange a meeting with Double J and have a conversation with TNA and see what happens.'"

Jericho then revealed he deliberately ensured word of the meeting would spread throughout the wrestling industry.

"My cousin was in town at the time, and I said, 'Just go sit over there and comment on what you see. And here's the email address of someone in the wrestling dirt sheet world who might be interested in what you see.'"

The strategy paid off almost immediately, as WWE quickly returned with the financial offer he had been seeking.

"I'm not saying I wasn't entertaining the idea, but two days later, guess who came back with the magic number?"