WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Cody Rhodes fails to confirm his WrestleMania plans as Drew McIntyre attacks

McIntyre tried to force his way into a WrestleMania main event twice on Monday night

Aside from the ongoing lawsuit and federal investigation into allegations of sexual assault and trafficking against longtime WWE CEO Vince McMahon, the dominant story over the past weekend in the professional wrestling bubble has been that of Cody Rhodes seemingly giving up a shot to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. Rhodes appeared to give up that opportunity on SmackDown this past Friday when he introduced Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for a staredown with Reigns.

Rhodes' WrestleMania picture didn't become much clearer on Monday night's episode of Raw. Before Rhodes could officially accept world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins' pleas for a match at the biggest show in wrestling, Drew McIntyre involved himself in things. McIntyre would do the same at the close of the show, attacking Rhodes following Rhodes' victory over Shinsuke Nakamura in a Bull Rope Match.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Cody Rhodes doesn't confirm his WrestleMania plans as Drew McIntyre attacks

The show opened with a recap of Rhodes seemingly handing his shot at Roman Reigns at WrestleMania off to The Rock. Rollins came to the ring to call Rhodes out to the ring to formally make a match for the world heavyweight championship at WrestleMania. Rhodes made his way to the ring and the crowd booed every mention of The Rock or the idea of Rollins vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania. Before Rhodes could deliver a definitive answer, he was interrupted by Drew McIntyre, who claimed that Rhodes needed to finish his story or he'd be letting his father down. After some back and forth over wanting the shot at Rollins, McIntyre delivered a headbutt to Rollins before being chased off by Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes def. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Bull Rope Match via pinfall. Nakamura pulled out all his tricks, including spitting the red mist in Rhodes' eyes. Despite the misting, Rhodes managed to pull off the win after hitting his second Cross Rhodes of the match. As Rhodes celebrated his win, he was attacked by Drew McIntyre. After beating Rhodes down, McIntyre delivered a Claymore before staring at the WrestleMania sign as the show went off the air.

I don't know what Monday night will do to address the concerns of those upset that it appears The Rock will face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, cutting off Rhodes' two-year-long story of looking to dethrone Reigns and "finish the story." Adding McIntyre to the mix to potentially set up Rollins vs. Rhodes vs. McIntyre -- a potentially necessary triple threat match with Rollins suffering a legitimate injury to his knee -- isn't going to fix fans feeling cheated out of a long-term story that they'd invested in. The constant boos at mentions of anything other than Rhodes vs. Reigns drove that home. Still, I'm a sucker for an old school gimmick match like a Bull Rope Match and that scores some points. Grade: B-

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• DIY def. Imperium, The New Day & The Creed Brothers via pinfall with Meet in the Middle on Giovanni Vinci. With the win, DIY faces Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate in a match on SmackDown to determine the No. 1 contenders to the WWE tag team championship.
• Becky Lynch def. Shayna Baszler via pinfall with a Manhandle Slam. With the win, Lynch advances to the women's Elimination Chamber match.
• Nia Jax attacked Rhea Ripley after Ripley came to the ring demanding a match with Jax. Before the attack, Adam Pearce confirmed he had booked Ripley vs. Jax for Elimination Chamber.
• The Miz def. JD McDonagh via pinfall after a Skull-Crushing Finale. Once again, R-Truth believed he was in Judgment Day and his attempts to help McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio backfired and led to Miz getting the win. This time, it may have been a trick as Truth celebrated with Miz on the ramp after the match.
• Jey Uso interrupted Guther's celebration for holding the intercontinental championship for more than 600 days. This all led to Gunther promising to beat Uso before throwing a few insults in. Uso attacked Gunther before Imperium intervened only to be ran off by The New Day.
• WWE Tag Team Championship – Asuka & Kairi Sane (c) def. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter via pinfall with a combination diving elbow and reverse DDT to retain the titles.