The fact that we know that Kaido was only able to defeat Oden by way of assist, we shouldn’t be surprised that he was frozen when the Scabbards attacked. We know from the Oden fight that you cannot always bet on Kaido in a 1-vs-1. We can assume that the OP narrator does not always have all the info when he narrates. In fact, he gathers all the info as a particular arc progresses just like we do. The narrator only has knowledge from one viewpoint until the entire story unfolds.
Is Kaido a beast. Definitely. Is Kaido fearless? He knows fear, is logical and will take a win no matter how it comes. This fear is probs compounded by the fact that a Samurai sword can do damage to him. Well, he is about to get the shock of his life when Luffy hurts him with a fist.
Beat that frauds arse!!!!