WWE Raw results, recap, grades: John Cena plans to take WWE title with him in retirement after WrestleMania

Cena has had enough of how the fans continue to treat him while Cody Rhodes continues to defend the brand

John Cena appeared on Monday's episode of WWE Raw to further explain the motivations that led him to attack Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber. Cena now says his main goal is to defeat Rhodes and leave WWE as the "last real champion."

According to Cena, the fans -- who he ultimately blames for him turning to the dark side -- have proven to him the thing they most care about is the sanctity of the undisputed WWE championship. To strike back at them for their lack of support for the past 25 years, Cena said he will defeat Rhodes at WrestleMania and take the title with him, leaving the fans with nothing.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from OVO Hydro in Glasgow.

John Cena lays out plan to take WWE championship away from the company

For the second consecutive week, Cena opened Raw with an in-ring promo. Cena reiterated his feelings about the WWE fans and the way they have never genuinely supported him. Cena said the fans told him everything he needed to know in 2005 when he introduced the "spinner belt" version of the WWE championship and fans complained that he turned the most important symbol in wrestling into a toy. Cena said that knowing people feel so strongly about the title belt, he knows he just has to beat Rhodes at WrestleMania and walk away as the last real champion and they can just create a new toy championship when he takes the real one away.

This brought out Rhodes. Rhodes said he may have misspoke the previous week when he said he would run through this sad version of Cena if Cena didn't find his old fire. Maybe Cena is, Rhodes said, the most dangerous version of himself. But the timeline of all professional wrestling history does not hang in the balance because of Cena's vanity. Rhodes said that if Cena wants the belt he has to take it, before lying the belt between the two men. Cena squared up before backing out of the ring.

This was largely the same as their confrontation a week prior outside of Rhodes changing his tune on the threat this version of Cena presents. Cena is still delivering on the microphone and WWE is being smart to keep the two from actually brawling. Rhodes is staying in the lane where he operates best, as a firey babyface who won't back down from a threat. Having Cena present on television is keeping things hot and there's a genuine sense of mystery as to what will happen at WrestleMania. Grade: A-

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• The Usos def. A-Town Down Under via pinfall after a 1D on Austin Theory. Jimmy Uso was Jey Uso's mystery partner. Gunther attacked after the match and Jey tripped while fighting him off, the second time in as many weeks that he had screwed up, which Jimmy called him on later in the show, saying Jey had to be better to beat Gunther at WrestleMania.
• Women's Intercontinental Championship -- Lyra Valkyria (c) def. Raquel Rodriguez via pinfall to retain the title. Liv Morgan, who had interfered in the match multiple times, attacked Valkyria after the match before Bayley ran in to make the save.
• Adam Pearce made a rematch between Rhea Ripley and women's world champion Iyo Sky for next Monday. Ripley, Sky and Bianca Belair were all in the ring continuing to argue after their confrontation the previous week. Ripley was demanding her rematch with Sky while Belair was telling Ripley she could wait three weeks until after WrestleMania. As the three came close to fighting, Pearce stepped in to book Sky vs. Ripley for next week for the title. The three women did eventually brawl and later in the show, Pearce informed Belair that she would be special guest referee next Monday.
• El Grande Americano def. Dragon Lee via submission with an ankle lock. Americano is obviously Chad Gable, but Gable continues to insist that is not the case. Gable presented Pearce with a medical note saying he was ill and that their planned match should pivot to Lee facing the "newcomer" instead.
• CM Punk announced a contract signing for SmackDown. Punk said Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns couldn't be bothered to show up so they would sign their WrestleMania contract on Friday. Punk stressed that the match was personal for Rollins and Reigns, but it was just business to him. Punk said that all he cares about is getting closer to what he wants and so he'll go through the two former Shield teammates to get there.
• Intercontinental Championship – Bron Breakker (c) def. Penta via disqualification after interference by Judgment Day. Earlier in the show, Dominik Mysterio approached Penta and offered him a spot in Judgment Day. Mysterio and Carlito came to the ring during the match and eventually interfered by attacking Breakker. The second interference saw Mysterio chop block Breakker in front of the referee, leading to the disqualification. The attack continued after the match, with Finn Balor joining in with a steel chair. Mysterio eventually handed the chair to Penta, but rather than attacking Breakker, Penta kicked the chair into Mysterio's face before Balor took him out. The show ended with Breakker and Penta down as Judgment Day posed together.