Chris Jericho just admitted he knew exactly what he was doing when he took a meeting with TNA in 2007, because WWE was not giving him the money he wanted at the time.
During the Dark Side of the Ring Season 7 Q&A in New York City on July 6, 2026, Jericho was asked if TNA was ever actually an option for him. That is when he revealed a story involving Jeff Jarrett, Dixie Carter, a Cheesecake Factory in Tampa, and a pretty clear money play while he was negotiating his WWE return. Jericho kicked things off by saying he was not even sure this story had been told in public before.
“I’m not sure this story has ever been told publicly. Jeff and I and Dixie, we met at the Cheesecake Factory in Tampa, Florida.”
Then Jericho explained what was really going on. He had been away from WWE for a couple of years and was talking about going back, but Vince McMahon had a number he did not want to go past. Jericho said WWE was not coming close to what he wanted.
“So, I was talking about going back to WWE. I’d been off for a couple years. I think this was like 2007, and this was at the time when Vince had the magic number of a salary. He had the magic number. I won’t say what that is, but it was the highest that you could get no matter who you were.”
Jericho said WWE had its base number, but it still was not where he wanted it to be. So, he decided to see what would happen if TNA got involved.
“It didn’t matter because with Vince at the time, if you headlined, if you were a main event, you would get paid more money and etcetera, etcetera, but the base minimum was this certain number and he wasn’t coming close to it.”
That is when Jericho arranged the meeting with Jarrett and Carter. He also admitted he had his cousin sit nearby and feed the sighting to someone in the wrestling dirt sheet world. In other words, Jericho did not just meet with TNA quietly. He wanted WWE to know there was another company in the mix.
“I was like, well, let me see if I can arrange a meeting with Double J and have a conversation with TNA and see what happens.”
“My cousin was in town at the time and I said, ‘Just go sit over there and just comment on what you see. And here’s an email address of someone in the wrestling dirt sheet area that might be interested.’”
The move paid off fast. Jericho made it clear that he was not completely faking interest in TNA, but he also admitted WWE came back with the money after the TNA meeting got out there.
“I’m not saying I wasn’t entertaining the idea, but two days later, guess who came back with the magic number?”
Jericho also said TNA had some real appeal at the time. Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle were tearing it up, and Jericho was paying attention to what they were doing.
“There was a time when Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle in that first feud, we saw a little bit of it tonight, was the best feud in wrestling. It was so exciting. And Samoa Joe, I was like, ‘F—, I love this guy. I love Samoa Joe.’”
Still, the point of the story was clear. Jericho used TNA as leverage, WWE saw there was another option, and suddenly the money changed. Jericho said that is exactly why having more than one strong wrestling company matters.
“So it wasn’t like I was not thinking about it. Just like, well, let’s see what we can do when the other side knows what’s going on, right? And that’s the reason why it’s great to have two viable companies.”
Jeff Jarrett seemed to get the play. He said his gut tells him that after the meeting, he probably told Dixie Carter that signing Jericho would have been a massive win for TNA.
“Dixie, if we can get him, it’s a freaking grand slam. Let’s hope we can get him.”
Jericho ended up returning to WWE, but this story makes it clear that TNA still had enough pull in 2007 to make WWE react. Jericho played the business side perfectly, used the competition to raise his value, and got WWE to come back with the number he wanted.
What do you think about Chris Jericho admitting he used a TNA meeting to leverage more money from WWE? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know how big Jericho in TNA would have been back in 2007.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
