WWE News: Latest Update on When the 2012 WWE Draft Will Take Place

It happens every year, even if the brand split means next to nothing these days. 

I’m talking, of course, about the annual WWE draft, which has taken place every year since 2004 and is the WWE’s way of reshuffling the brands to create new feud possibilities and give some superstars a chance to rise up the card. 

Even with the new Raw supershow format, the WWE draft will take place again in 2012, and it now looks like we now have a general idea of when that will happen. 

From PWInsider.com (via WrestlingInc.com): 

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PWInsider reports that there has been early talk of doing the WWE Draft in late April or early May, but there is no strong timeline of when it will happen. 

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This is the absolute ideal time to hold the WWE draft, and it’s when it should take place every year. 

By the time WrestleMania 28 is over and done with every year, almost all feuds on both Raw and SmackDown have been exhausted. The main roster is pretty thin at this point, and going any longer than a year with the same roster is going to result in a stale WWE with a bunch of rehashed and recycled feuds. 

At the same time, the WWE often needs to use the pay-per-view after WrestleMania to blow off all the feuds that resulted in Mania matches. This year, that PPV will be Extreme Rules, which takes place on April 29, four weeks after WrestleMania. 

So, I’d fully expect the WWE to hold the 2012 draft sometime between Extreme Rules and the next PPV, Over the Limit, which will be the first show with the new-look rosters, much like it was last year. Makes sense to me. 

Although I know that the brand extension is essentially nonexistent these days, I think we do still need two separate Raw and SmackDown brands because it’s basically the best of both worlds: Merged roster on Mondays, and just the SmackDown roster (well, usually, at least) on Fridays. 

I just hope that the WWE makes some major splashes at the draft this year, and really shakes things up a bit. 

Can we say Cena to SmackDown, anyone?

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.