You could legitimately make a very very long thread about all the useless minor plotlines and events that were useless outside of temporary shock value and stretched the arc to an insane length.
Case one : Luffy losing to Kaido in 1013
-No consequences on anyone
-Downplay the actual meaningful loss of 1042 because we've already seen it happen
-Brought us a fake death with Kinemon that angered the entire fanbase