Dean Ambrose’s heel turn: good or bad?

#2 Bad: Merchandise

Ambrose and WWE stand to lose out on some merchandise revenue

When fans speculated about an Ambrose heel turn before it actually happened, one of the main points that gave them pause was if WWE would really be willing to give up the merchandise Ambrose moves.

There’s a long tradition of bad guys in the business not being the ones fans pay to wear the likenesses of—some wrestlers have historically even cited this as a reason they don’t want to turn heel, knowing they will lose out on a portion of their royalties.

Indeed, between Shield t-shirts and Ambrose’s own line of apparel, WWE probably will lose out on some revenue on account of not being able to sell based on Ambrose’s brand. In the end, it will probably be worth it given heels can sell t-shirts in this day and age, too, WWE has newly minted faces like Elias to merchandise off of, and Ambrose will move even more merch if or when he turns face again. In the short term, though, WWE may lose out in this particular area.