I've never been an advocate of ZKK happening in the wake of Luffy's loss, but rather in the wake of his victory
I don't think Oda would stoop so low as to have Luffy lose to Kaido and then have Zoro come in and kill him. Zoro hasn't even gone through the grim reaper plotline yet, it's not yet time for ZKK
But ZKK also isn't "forced." If you look at the evidence and build-up from everything during and even before Wano, including manga panels/statements, One Piece magazines, Vivre Cards, etc. you'll get the full picture...it's been there
At this point ZKK seems so absurdly obvious in terms of evidence that I fear it's even a red herring lmao