I dont agree with the idea that turning him heel will adversely affect his merch sales. Being a heel has not hurt the sales of merch for people like HHH, Austin, Rock, Jericho, Edge and Orton. They all continued or continue to sell shit loads of merch when they were/are heels.
Cena was insanely popular as a heel, which was why they turned him face in the first place.
People like Carlito & Kennedy have also suffered from the factor that as soon as a heel starts gaining popularity and selling merch heavily, they turn them face.
Santino Marella was ignored as a face, but shifts merch by the bucketload as a heel.
It might make a small dent in his sales, but nowhere near enough that it would impact them heavily!
