Imo, the idea of him being a fish initially is way too far-fetched; he has always been portrayed as a dragon. Whether he awakened or not is the real question. I hope Oda addresses this at some point, but it's crazy to think that Kaido, even without awakening, is already dominating the G5 . He could have won the fight if he hadn't chosen to take that attack head-on. Kaido's fruit is already overpowered, and an awakened form would be too much for anyone to handle. Lol.